


Everything I Did to Get to You

by Lolo (TheLittleLo)



Series: Sing to Me Instead [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Background Angst, Fluff, I'm keeping the typo tag though, IT'S CUTE., Joe and Nicky are just really in love you guys, Joe's family is great!, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Mutual Maturation, Unplanned Pregnancy, actual sex scenes this time so:, again NOT for Joe and Nicky lol, aggressively requited love, artist Joe - Freeform, cause it's funny, doctoral candidate nicky, for other another character.... but just in case that's not your jam, holiday fic, like for characters that aren't Joe and Nicky, ok actual tags..., ok?, scholar nicky, that's the whole fic, though they do worry about it, writer joe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28260228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleLo/pseuds/Lolo
Summary: Joe and Nicky have been together for five and a half years, and things are going great- for them at least. Sure work is hard and demanding, and their friend group is practically falling apart, but Joe and Nicky are fine- better than fine.Now, if Joe could work up the courage to finally ask Nicky the question he’s been waiting to ask for months- years- their entire relationship, then everything would be perfect...friend group implosion not withstanding.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Sing to Me Instead [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012113
Comments: 171
Kudos: 441





	1. You Saw Me From the Start

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by Isa (YogurtForDinner) <3

****

**December 23rd 2024**

**An Interlude**

| Nile Freeman |

_Monday 12:32 PM_

_So…  
_ _I know you don’t really care for  
_ _Christmas anymore, and I know  
_ _Joe doesn’t celebrate at all but  
_ _I’d really like you both there._

_I don’t know Nile..._

_We can call it a winter party  
_ _or an end of the year party  
_ _or we can call it nothing!!  
_ _Just a gathering of friends  
_ _that happens to be in December_

 _That’s not the issue and you know it.  
_ _We would both gladly be there._

 _Truly, neither Joe or I care what  
_ _holiday is being celebrated…_

 _What I AM worried about is  
_ _the rest of the guest list._

 _Please Nicky!  
_ _We never hang out as a group anymore_

 _If you can magically force Andy  
_ _and Quynh into the same house  
_ _without them screaming at each  
_ _other you have my blessing, but  
_ _I’m sorry, I don’t think even you  
_ _can pull off that miracle._

 _That’s not fair.  
_ _Cause that means I have to  
_ _choose between you and Andy._

 _Why would you need to do that?  
_ _Andy and I get along fine._

 _If I invite you, of course that  
_ _includes Joe and I can’t invite  
_ _Joe without inviting Quynh._

_Which is why I’m advising against the party._

_Ugh.  
_ _Ok, fine.  
_ _We’ll be there…  
_ _Just be sure you’re prepared._

 _Yes!  
_ _Thank you!  
_ _I love you!  
_ _It will be drama free, I swear!_

| Joe |

_Monday 1:07 PM  
_ _Party’s still on for 5pm on Saturday.  
_ _I couldn’t talk her out of it._

 _Who? Nile?  
_ _That’s fine hon, you worry too much_

 _Quynh already knows Andy will be  
_ _there and said she’ll be on her best  
_ _behavior, she’s dying to meet  
_ _Marie anyway so she’ll have  
_ _something else to focus on_

 _Monday 3:25 PM  
_ _I take it Alyssa had a lot of feedback?_

 _Yes.  
_ _You have no idea._

_But I think I can get it done  
_ _tonight if I just push through._

_Dinner?_

_I doubt it.  
_ _Sorry._

 _Don’t worry about it.  
_ _I’ll just make myself something horrendous  
_ _Like pizza rolls_

_Gross._

**Nicky**

The last year had been rough for their _blended family of a friend group_ -Nile’s words, not Nicky’s- and he couldn’t really blame her for trying to recapture the previous year’s holiday season. That had been the last time when everything had felt semi normal.

In February Quynh had broken up with Andy, which had surprised everyone. Joe said he wasn’t sure even Quynh knew the reason why she did it.

What had not come as a surprise to anyone was how she took her second Olympic gold that summer. Of course every news channel played her kiss with Andy from her 2021 win when she did. That was hard on both of them.

Booker had started seeing a girl named Marie in August, but with the odd fracturing of the group Nicky had only met her twice, and Joe only one more time than that. She was absolutely too good for Booker and seemed to have been able to curb his drinking slightly, which made Joe happy.

This had also been the year when they all had finally started to hit their strides with their careers.

Nile had been teaching at the same school long enough that she no longer spent the summer freaking out that she wouldn’t be brought back the following year.

Booker was working as an avionics engineer. It was demanding and he complained about it constantly, but he said the pay was worth it. 

Andy worked with an immigration office doing translation. Her job was also demanding and demoralizing, she and Booker commiserated often.

Quynh, of course, was constantly training. Being a world class -not to mention relatively famous- athlete took her away from the group more often than anyone else.

Joe, ever the renaissance man, was determined to have the most complex resume that Nicky had ever seen. When asked, Joe was most likely to say he was an artist. His work had been featured in two gallery openings in Seattle over the previous six months and he kept fairly busy with commissions. He still fenced and even competed in the occasional tournament, though not as often as he would have liked. He was also on the coaching staff for Old Guard College fencing, and taught teen fencing classes two nights a week.

All of that would have been enough -it was certainly more than Nicky would have had the brain power to handle- but Joe somehow still found time to cram in one more pursuit. About a year after graduating he had decided to start sending out his poetry and fiction to literary agents, though it was the fiction that snagged him an agent willing to represent him.

Between all of Joe’s other vocations the time he found to write was in the evenings. Nicky was starting to worry that his sleeping habits were rubbing off on him.

That left Nicky. He felt like he had changed the least since graduating, but such was the life of an academic. He had his master’s degree under his belt and was two years into his doctorate. He still worked with most of the same faculty, though now he was considered more of a colleague than a student.

Nine out of ten days Nicky regretted deciding to go for his doctorate in history. It was grueling and unforgiving and the workload seemed to never end. Joe was a great support, never letting him spiral for too long. He was also exceptionally good at helping Nicky de-stress, which didn’t always include being naked, though that often did factor in.

Nicky was looking forward to getting to enjoy the rest of winter break. He was already eating into his time off as it was, but he knew he would feel better if he just got these revisions back to Professor Wakefield- Alyssa before enjoying his time off. He hated to bring work home if he could help it, though it still happened.

Nicky’s eyes were starting to cross from looking at the same paragraph for so long. His phone buzzed on his desk, and he smiled when he saw it was a text from Joe.

_Last chance to talk me out of this truly awful decision._

Nicky stared at the message for a moment before connecting the dots. He sat back in his chair and grinned as he typed out his response.

_The pizza rolls?  
_ _Well, I definitely won’t be  
_ _home for dinner so have  
_ _all the awful food you want._

 _Good  
_ _Cause I already went to  
_ _the store and bought a box_

 _I promise to destroy the  
_ _evidence before you get home_

Nicky laughed and shook his head.

He glanced around the office that he normally shared with four other doctoral candidates. It was almost creepy how silent the room was. It was two days before Christmas and he was the only person there.

The sun had set over the previous hour and Nicky’s laptop screen was the only light in the room. He sighed and pushed out of his chair to go turn on the light, squinting involuntarily when the bright fluorescent light filled the room. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust and walked back to his desk. 

Nicky stared at the unfinished essay open on his computer and idly tapped his finger on the side of the keyboard. Professor Wakefield had been gracious enough to bring him on as a coauthor, but the submission date for the conference was fast approaching and they had been working nearly round the clock on getting it done. All he wanted was to go home and see Joe, but he knew he still had hours to go before he was done. He picked up his phone and sent another text.

_You will have ample time to do so._

_yikes  
_ _So you’re gonna be LATE_

_Unfortunately._

Nicky pushed the heels of hands into his eyes and leaned his head back. He knew the sooner he got the edits back to Alyssa, the sooner he could go home. He felt like he was making fairly decent headway when Joe texted him again an hour and a half later.

_I miss you_

_I miss you too.  
_ _I’m almost done, then it’s an  
_ _entire week of no work.  
_ _...hopefully_

_Knock on wood..._

_Wake me up when you get home?_

_Wake you up, or WAKE YOU UP?_

😏😏

Nicky chuckled, his mind already following that line of thought to its conclusion.

_lol  
_ _I love you._

_Love you too habibi_

Nicky felt butterflies grip his stomach for a moment after reading Joe’s last message. It still amazed him how much he loved his boyfriend. Even five and a half years with him hadn’t diminished his feelings. If anything they grew with each passing year.

Nicky spent a full minute weighing the pros and cons of just calling it a night and going home right then. He was desperate to see Joe, let alone crawl into bed and get a decent night’s sleep for the first time in months, but he knew he would regret not finishing that night if he had to work the next day. He might not have really cared about celebrating Christmas anymore, but something still felt wrong about working on Christmas eve and day. Old habits die hard.

He sighed and put his phone face down on his desk, hoping that would be enough of a deterrent from continuing to flirt with Joe. The only way out was through, so he got back to work, trying not to let his plans for _waking up_ Joe distract him too much.

**Joe**

Joe had become a pretty good cook in the last few years. Particularly since Nicky had started his doctorate degree and hadn’t had the free time to spoil him with his -as far as Joe was concerned- far superior cooking skills.

He would never have called himself a bad cook when he tried, even before he met Nicky. The problem was that he was extremely lazy when it came to food, and most of the time just throwing something in the microwave was enough for him. Food was often a distraction from whatever he was working on, so quick and easy had always been the name of the game. The quicker he could shovel food into his mouth, the quicker he could get back to drawing or writing or fencing.

He was well aware that some of the things he used to eat were objectively disgusting. The days when he’d had to find creative ways to stretch five dollars to last him three days weren’t exactly _fond_ memories, but there was a certain nostalgia to that time.

Now, he wouldn’t go back to that if you paid him -mostly because that was also the time when he had been with Keane and the in the immediate aftermath of their breakup- but sometimes one just craved shitty microwavable pizza rolls. If he was gonna spend the evening missing Nicky he might as well indulge in something ridiculous.

He and Nicky had only been in this apartment for a little over half a year, but it already felt so much more like a home than either of their previous two ever had. That was largely due to the fact that this one had two bedrooms so they finally had space to work without being on top of each other. The second bedroom now functioned as an office and workspace.

Joe insisted that it was _their_ office, but even he knew that the room was mostly used by him. For one thing, Joe worked from home. For another, Joe’s work certainly took up more physical space. 

Joe had spent the entire day holed up in the office. The floor was covered in a canvas drop cloth with a dozen small wood canvases drying on it. He had space at an art show the second weekend in January and was scrambling to have enough smaller pieces to fill out his inventory.

By the time he felt hungry enough to take a break the windows of the small room were fogged and Joe was starting to feel light headed. He always forgot to open windows all the way in winter. Trying to keep the office warm while also not passing out from paint fumes was a constant battle.

Pizza rolls -as it turned out- were not nearly as good as Joe remembered. He ended up throwing half of them out before grabbing an apple and returning to the office to keep working.

Walking back into the office it became extremely obvious that he needed to take a break and let the room air out. The fumes were almost overpowering in the small space. That was what he got for listening to Booker and trying to work in spray paint more. He opened the window further than the crack he had it at while he worked, the cold winter air made Joe shiver and he closed the door to let the fumes clear.

Joe ended up in bed with his laptop balanced on his knees. He didn’t normally work in bed; it kept Nicky up, but he was fairly certain he wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep until Nicky got home so he figured he might as well get some writing done.

He checked his email, there was still no word from Copley about offers. His agent had said not to expect anything over the next two weeks as everyone was off for the holidays, but Joe still couldn’t help but continue to check. As much as he loved his art, it would be nice not to be so beholden to the feast or famine whims of art shows and commission work.

He was only able to crank out a few hundred words before he realized it was nearly midnight. He hadn’t heard anything from Nicky, but didn’t want to distract him and resisted the urge to ask how much longer he thought he’d be.

Joe turned off the light and tried to fall asleep -normally something he was excellent at- but for whatever reason he couldn’t seem to drift off. It wasn’t like he and Nicky never slept without the other. This was far from the first time Nicky had to work late, and Joe was no stranger to pulling all-nighters when inspiration struck, but for some reason Joe’s mind was racing.

Perhaps it was the small box in the back of his sock drawer waiting patiently for the right moment that Joe still couldn’t settle on. Or it could have been the general nerves surrounding his book having been sent out to publishers. He was starting to dread the upcoming fencing season too, which picked up full swing in January. Essentially, as much as Joe hated to admit it, he knew he was stretching himself too thin and probably needed to drop something, especially if his book was purchased. He tried not to think about what he’d made Nicky promise to do when he got home, or he’d really never fall asleep.

Joe rolled over to face Nicky’s side of the bed and grabbed his pillow. He felt a little silly for being able to settle within minutes of shoving his face into it, especially given that he had seen him that morning. It wasn’t like when he’d gone to visit family in Tunisia the summer after they started dating and they didn’t see each other for a month.

Joe closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Nicky’s pillow smelled like his shampoo.

\---

In general, Joe was not one to wake up easily, but he’d fallen asleep longing for Nicky and the faint sound of their front door shutting woke him immediately. He checked the time on his phone, it was a quarter past three.

Joe was still hugging Nicky’s pillow when he walked in and started getting undressed. It was a lot later than Joe had been expecting Nicky to get home -probably later than Nicky had been expecting too- and the chances of them getting up to anything were probably slim. He couldn’t help but watch his boyfriend strip, though.

There was something soft and peaceful about watching Nicky when he wasn’t aware Joe was awake. Joe could tell from how slow he was getting undressed that he was exhausted. His shoulders were slumped and his hair was sticking up in every direction like he’d been running his hand through it repeatedly.

Nicky sighed and disappeared into the bathroom. Joe heard Nicky brushing his teeth and was about to turn over and pretend to still be asleep so Nicky didn’t feel pressured to make do on his earlier flirting when he came back into the room.

He stopped short of their bed and laughed quietly.

“What?” Joe asked, voice coming out sleepier than he felt.

“You’re cute, is all.”

Nicky sat on the side of the edge of the bed and leaned down to kiss Joe.

“Is that my pillow?”

“I missed you,” Joe said. He could feel warmth creep up on his cheeks and was thankful that in the dark Nicky wouldn’t be able to see him blush.

“Like I said- cute.”

He kissed Joe again, and to Joe’s surprise didn’t break off the kiss to properly get into bed. Instead he nudged Joe to roll onto his back while he pushed the sheet off of him. Without breaking the kiss, Nicky straddled him and Joe’s hands settled on Nicky’s hips.

Joe moaned, loving where this was going, but he really didn’t want Nicky to feel like he had to do this just because they’d sent some flirty text messages. Nicky sucked Joe’s bottom lip between his teeth and Joe felt his dick pulse.

“Ah- Nicky-” Joe said, pulling back. Nicky stopped and stared back at him confused. “You’re sure you’re not too tired?”

Nicky chuckled and rolled his hips down into Joe’s, his hard dick rubbing against where Joe was still mostly soft.

“Definitely not,” Nicky said. He let his hands ghost over Joe’s chest as he sat up. Joe knew it was no accident that their path had them brushing over Joe’s nipples. He playfully rolled his hips against Joe again when he continued, “the only reason I finished as fast as I did was because I had a very enticing carrot waiting for me at home.”

“Oh, a carrot, am I? What would the stick be then?” Joe asked, as he rubbed circles into Nicky’s hip bones with his thumbs.

“Having to work on Christmas eve.”

“Technically you did, though.”

“Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good. Besides-” Nicky scooted back to straddle Joe’s thighs and trailed a hand further down. He pushed his fingertips under the waistband of Joe’s boxer briefs, “-I did finish my work, and now all I really care about is getting my mouth on you.”

Joe jumped when Nicky got the rest of his hand into his boxer briefs and wrapped it around his cock.

“Yes-” Joe gasped out as Nicky moved his hand, slowly stroking Joe’s rapidly hardening length, and let his eyes flutter closed, “-do that.”

Nicky stroked him a few more times before pulling his hand out. Joe whined in protest, but caught up to the direction Nicky was going when his boxer briefs were being dragged down his legs and tossed into the dark.

Nicky nudged Joe to bend his knees and open his legs. Joe planted his feet on the mattress and scooted further down the bed.

Nicky began to settle between Joe’s legs when he noticed his boxers were still on.

“You too,” Joe protested briefly, but then Nicky was already on his stomach and mouthing at Joe’s inner thigh and the thought died in his throat, replaced by a gasp.

“Later,” Nicky whispered as he moved his mouth closer to Joe’s groin.

“Yeah- yeah- okay,” Joe nodded, closing his eyes again, content to just feel Nicky in that moment.

Nicky continued his slow journey up Joe’s inner thigh, kissing and lightly nipping at the tender skin every few seconds. Joe expected him to suck his dick so when Nicky instead moved to lick at Joe’s balls, he practically yelped. Nicky laughed softly as he continued to mouth at him, sending vibrations into his pelvis that were almost too much for Joe to handle.

Nicky wrapped his arms around Joe’s thighs and pulled them in closer together, like he wanted to be surrounded by Joe, caged in by his legs. Joe was trying his hardest not to thrust up into nothing, when Nicky moved back for a moment. He took a deep breath and panted into the apex of Joe’s legs.

“You smell so good,” Nicky practically moaned before finally liking a hot stripe up the underside of Joe’s cock.

“Fuck-” Joe managed to gasp out. His back arched off the bed when Nicky moved back down to continue mouthing at his balls.

The feeling of being with Nicky was something Joe could never quite describe. Even from their first night together -all rushed handjobs and hungry kissing- Joe knew he would never get enough of this man.

Nicky was an extremely attentive and creative lover. He always knew when to push Joe’s buttons and when to just let them be together, soft and slow. That night was definitely a button-pushing night. 

When Joe finally looked down he could see a small bead of precum forming at the slit of his cock, and the top of Nicky’s head where he was barely moving, focused entirely on doing something with his tongue that had Joe spiraling toward release quicker than he’d like.

Nicky withdrew a hand from Joe’s thigh and stopped sucking at his balls for a moment. He heard rather than saw Nicky lick his palm, the slick sound of saliva against skin went straight to his pelvis and his entire lower body trembled.

Nicky’s mouth returned to Joe’s balls. His dick twitched again and he sighed in relief at the anticipation of finally getting Nicky’s hand back on him.

Once again though, Joe gasped in surprise when he felt a finger circle his entrance. Nicky pressed the pad of his finger to Joe’s hole with just enough pressure not to enter him. Joe moaned and tried to push down on it.

Nicky pulled back from Joe and looked up and him, leaning the side of his head against Joe’s thigh. He was breathing heavily and Joe could see the shine of spit covering his lips and chin.

“I love you so much,” Nicky said between panting breaths.

Joe was pretty sure he responded in kind, but his mind was hazy and he might have just moaned, screwing his eyes shut. Nicky got up on his knees and scooted closer to Joe’s hips. He rubbed Joe’s leg like he was trying to calm him- or perhaps calm himself as he took a few deep breaths.

“Touch yourself,” Nicky whispered.

“Fuck, Nicky-” Joe gasped. He had just enough clarity of mind to lick his palm before taking himself in hand.

Nicky returned his fingers to press softly around his entrance, still not breaching the tight ring of muscle. Joe could feel himself twitching against the finger, and knew Nicky could too. He let out a desperate moan and jacked himself harder.

“God- Joe- Yusuf- You’re so-” Nicky babbled as he continued to massage Joe’s hole, letting his palm press into Joe’s perineum and the underside of his balls. Joe heard an unmistakable wet sound and opened his eyes to find Nicky had pushed his underwear down just enough to free his cock and was moving his hand in time with Joe’s own desperate strokes.

Joe’s chest felt like it was getting tight -like he wasn’t getting enough air- and the heat in his pelvis was threatening to consume him.

“Nicky- I’m so close-” Joe was able to gasp out. He could only hope that Nicky both understood what Joe wanted, and wasn’t far behind.

Nicky nodded slightly and picked up the pace of both his hands.

“Nicky-” Joe was about to tell him to slow down, that he wanted them to come together when Nicky finally pushed his finger into him up to the second knuckle.

Joe’s orgasm hit him like a bolt of lightning. He arched his back off the bed and practically sobbed as his pleasure ripped out of him and coated his stomach. It was so much at once that he stopped stroking himself. A moment later Nicky’s mouth was at the head of his dick, sucking down the last few bursts of cum.

Nicky pulled off of Joe’s dick and leaned his forehead down on the crease of Joe’s hip, Joe could feel him trembling.

“Shit,” Joe exhaled. He took a few deep breaths before asking, “did you?”

Nicky nodded against Joe’s hip.

Joel let out a practically breathless laugh. “Sorry I made you do all the work.”

Nicky pulled his finger out and Joe hissed slightly. Nicky hummed and crawled up the bed to lay on his side next to Joe.

“You call that work?” Nicky asked, propping his head up on his hand. “That was an absolute pleasure, and the easiest job I’ve ever had.”

Joe snorted between heavy breaths and opened his arm for Nicky to move in closer and rest his head on Joe’s chest. Joe held his hand slightly away from Nicky’s shoulder as it was still covered in his cum. Nicky however didn’t seem to care, or at least didn’t realize until it was too late and placed his hand in the mess on Joe’s stomach. He played it off well enough, drawing a small circle in the cum before kissing Joe’s chest and pushing himself to sit up.

“I’m gonna clean our cum off of you. I feel ready to pass out at any moment, and if I don’t do something now we’ll have to deal with it in the morning which will not be fun.”

Nicky disappeared into the bathroom again. Joe heard him washing his hands as he laid there trying to catch his breath. He returned with a damp washcloth and wiped Joe’s stomach while he bent down to kiss Joe’s forehead.

“Gimme that.” Joe reached out for the washcloth, cleaning his hand when Nicky handed it over before tossing it onto the ground and pulling Nicky down on top of him.

Nicky laughed into the crook of Joe’s neck as he readjusted his landing position to be draped over Joe from chest to feet.

“Welcome home,” Joe said as he wrapped his arms tightly around Nicky.

“Mmmm, what a welcome.”

“You should work late more often.”

Nicky groaned indignantly and nipped at Joe’s neck.

“No?” Joe asked as he stifled a laugh.

“No,” Nicky said sleepily.

Nicky kissed Joe’s neck once more before rolling off him and guiding an arm to settle on his waist. Joe followed gladly and pressed his body against Nicky’s back. Nicky sighed and snuggled back into him in return.

“How was your day?” Nicky asked sleepily.

“Productive, I have twelve more pieces for the show in January,” Joe said. He pressed his lips to the back of Nicky’s neck then added, “I wanted to have as much done as possible before I got you to myself for two weeks.”

Nicky hummed quietly and turned to give Joe a kiss over his shoulder.

“Here’s to hoping Alyssa doesn’t have any more feedback for you,” Joe said when Nicky finally broke this kiss and settled back into his pillow.

“I can see it now, ‘Nicolò, that was perfect I have nothing to add. Now enjoy your time off and let that boyfriend of yours fuck you until you can’t see straight.’”

“I’m sure those will be her exact words, my love.” Joe knew he was shaking the bed with how hard he was trying not to laugh.

Nicky chuckled and ground his ass back into Joe’s still-soft cock. The laugh died in his throat as he sucked in a breath. He half expected Nicky to turn and face him- to try for another round, but then Joe heard him yawn and felt his chest expand under his arm. He couldn’t help but smile against the back of Nicky’s neck. 

“Go to sleep before you start something you can’t finish.”

Nicky made a noise of protest but he didn’t say anything more. He simply snuggled closer to Joe and pulled his arm to wrap around him tighter.

**An Interlude**

From: j.copley@outlook.com  
To: yusufalkaysani@gmail.com  
Date: Dec 24, 2024, 8:20 AM  
Subject: Big News!!

Joe-

Normally I would call you with this, but I don’t want to bother you on Christmas eve and this is the type of thing I’m sure you’d rather hear now rather than later.

Pin Board Publishing has offered to preempt your book!

The offer is extremely generous. I’ve attached the terms for you to look over, but don’t feel like you need to do so immediately. I know it’s a crazy time of year for everyone right now.

The important thing is that your book is getting published!

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Enjoy the holidays, we can touch base in the new year.

James Copley  
Literary Agent  
Codex Inquiry Agency  
_Sent from my iPhone_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know essentially nothing about the publishing industry and lord knows I am not an artist. Luckily neither play TOO much into this Holiday Special (3-shot?? Interlude??? In between fic? Idk what to call this lol) more setup than anything.  
> It WILL play into the proper sequel so I’ll have to do research for that eventually… I got away from fencing research and I just couldn’t let myself write something easy that required zero research?? *throws hands in the air*
> 
> Next chapter posts on the 28th <3


	2. Been the Life of the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Booker's got a secret, Quynh is struggling with things she refuses to talk about and Joe and Nicky are forced to deal with the real world beyond their apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read, as always by Isa (YogurtForDinner)

**December 28th 2024**

**Nicky**

Nicky woke up on Saturday morning without Joe’s already hard cock pressed against his back for the first time in five days. Since the start of Nicky’s time off Joe had been insatiable and truthfully, so had Nicky. They had sex as soon as the woke up, and it was the last thing they did before falling asleep.

They’d hardly left the apartment- barely bothered to put clothes on. Why would they? The ease of being able to shift Joe’s well-worn sweats below his ass and eat him out on the couch while they pretended to watch a movie, or for Joe to do the same to him while he ignored the meal he’d been cooking in his underwear was more than enough to keep them half dressed, at most.

So after the blissful week they’d had Nicky was confused to find Joe not in bed with him. He groaned and rolled onto his back.

Then he remembered it was Saturday and they had actual things to do. Chiefly, Nile’s ‘ _ holiday-winter-please let’s just get together as a group for once _ ’ party.

Nicky picked up his phone to check the time -8:29am- and found missed texts from Nile, Booker and Andy.

Nile’s were just general worries about not having enough food for the party and asking Nicky if he could make something, Booker wanted Nicky to make Joe text him back, and Andy’s a single text that read  _ I am extremely unenthused about tonight. _

Nicky rubbed his eyes and rolled onto his stomach to type out replies to each of them.

To Nile:  _ Sure. How does bruschetta sound? _

To Booker:  _ I’m not his mother, Book. I’m sure he’ll get back to you when he has the chance. _

To Andy:  _ Just try to grin and bear it. I have been informed that Quynh will be on her best behavior. _

Nicky let his phone fall from his hands onto the bed, and he buried his face in the pillow for a moment before taking a deep breath and willing himself to get up. He knew Joe was probably making breakfast, but Nicky wasn’t ready to go back to the real world just yet.

He dug through the back of Joe’s drawer and pulled out a well worn pair of Joe’s sweats. It was a dirty trick but one Nicky knew would work, and he truly knew no shame when it came to Joe. He pulled on the grey pants, gave himself a quick once over in the mirror -he filled them out more than he used to, but they weren’t starving college students anymore- he thought he looked pretty good if he said so himself. Certainly good enough to tempt Joe. 

As expected, Nicky found Joe making breakfast. Unfortunately, though no less expected, he was fully dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. He was even already wearing socks. He looked amazing of course. Joe made every piece of clothing he wore look spectacular but that didn’t change the fact that Nicky preferred him naked and sweaty.

Nicky shook his head trying to get his mind out of the gutter. Four straight days of practically non stop sex were making him greedy. Maybe he should go back into the bedroom to change and let them go back to being responsible adults with lives outside their apartment.

“Morning, sleepy head,” Joe said, far too chipper for how tired Nicky felt. They really had been taking advantage of the ability to sleep in.

Joe didn’t turn around, apparently engrossed in whatever he was cooking.

“Buongiorno,” Nicky said, sleep still thick in his voice. He walked over to Joe, wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and placed a kiss on the back of his neck. “Booker wants you to text him back.”

Joe chuckled and leaned back into Nicky’s embrace. “Not exactly what I was expecting you to say.”

“I love you. What are you making?” Nicky asked. He kissed the back of Joe’s neck two more times before repeating, “Booker wants you to text him back.”

Joe laughed again, turned in Nicky’s arms and pulled him into a deep kiss. Nicky smiled and hummed his approval.

“I love you too. A fried egg sandwich. And I’ve already spoken with Booker,” Joe punctuated each phrase with another light kiss, first to each of Nicky’s eyes, and then his forehead. “He wants to meet me for breakfast.”

“When? Today?” Nicky asked as Joe turned back to the stove and slid the fried egg onto a waiting piece of toast.

“Yeah, I’m walking out the door as soon as I finish making this.” Joe wheeled around and held the plate out to Nicky with a sly grin.

“Joe-”

“I couldn’t leave you with nothing to eat, now could I?”

“Have fun,” Nicky said, accepting the plated egg sandwich that was thrust into his hand with a laugh. “Say hello to Sebastien for me.”

“I will. Try not to miss me too much.” Joe kissed Nicky on the cheek before rushing out the door.

With Joe’s whirlwind energy gone, Nicky enjoyed the breakfast sandwich in silence as he stared into the fridge and took stock of what he needed to get in order to make his newly promised appetizer for Nile’s party.

**An Interlude**

| Nicky 💙 |

_ Saturday 9:13 AM  
_ _ Book is late _

_ Did you think he would be on time? _

_ Honestly? Yes  
_ _ He sounded upset on the phone _

_ So you’re telling me I COULD  
_ _ have tempted you this morning? _

_ Oh you tempted!  
_ _ I just made the ludicrous decision  
_ _ to power through the urge to  
_ _ tear you out of my clothes _

_ I wasn’t sure you noticed. _

_ Nicky. _

_ What? You didn’t say anything.  
_ _ How was I supposed to know? _

_ I was trying to be a good  
_ _ friend and not stand Booker up! _

_ Fair enough.  
_ _ So you think it’s bad? _

_ He was pretty cagey on  
_ _ the phone, but yeah _

_ I’m sure he’ll be there soon. _

**Joe**

Joe absentmindedly felt the lump in his pocket for the tenth time since sitting down. He wasn’t sure he would get the courage to ask that night at the party, but if the moment presented itself Joe wanted to make sure he had what he needed at hand.

Not that he expected to need it here with Booker, but he hated leaving the ring in the apartment alone with Nicky, scared that he would find it. They weren’t a particularly secretive couple and Nicky had the habit of treating Joe’s clothes like they were his own -not that Joe would ever complain about that- so finding a place to hide an engagement ring had proved difficult, including several near misses.

Even his sock drawer had almost betrayed him when Nicky had searched out an extra pair of wool socks two weeks prior. Joe had stood frozen in the middle of their room, unsure of how to stop Nicky from finding the box that was  _ inches  _ from his hand. Thankfully he found what he was looking for before Joe had to face the reality of their engagement story being  _ Nicky has bad circulation and apparently no socks of his own.  _ Joe started carrying the ring with him everywhere after that.

He had never been particularly good at hiding stuff from Nicky, though he was fairly sure Nicky didn’t suspect anything. Professor Wakefield demanding so much of Nicky’s time over the previous month could not have come at a more opportune time. Nicky’s week off had been difficult though. Partly because he couldn’t very well keep the ring on him when he was naked and pressed against Nicky half the time, and partly because he still hadn’t told Nicky about his email from Copley.

Joe knew that would change a lot of things about their living situation and that it was a big deal. For some reason he felt like he needed to tell Nicky with the proposal. So now Joe, famously awful at hiding anything from Nicky was hiding two things.

He really needed to come up with a proposal plan sooner rather than later. He had half a mind to rope Booker into his planning until he actually saw Booker’s face as his oldest friend slumped into the chair across from him, looking like death warmed up.

“Good morning,” Joe said, not even bothering to hide his worried tone.

Booker looked like he hadn’t slept, his hair was a mess and his clothes were rumpled like he’d been wearing them since the night before.

“Coffee?” Joe asked when Booker didn’t look up at him right away. All he got was a noncommittal grunt in return.

Joe flagged down the waiter and ordered coffee and breakfast for both of them as Booker didn’t really seem present in the moment but he looked like he could use a good meal.

“Rough night?” Joe asked as the waiter walked away.

“Something like that.”

Booker shifted from staring down at the table to looking out the window. Joe was about to fill the silence by telling Booker he was planning on proposing when he finally spoke.

“Do you and Nicky want kids?” He asked.

“I uh- that’s a random question- but yeah, we’ve talked about it and we both want kids at some point.”

“Some point,” Booker said under his breath. He blinked and finally looked at Joe. “You guys moved really fast at the beginning right? I feel like he wasn’t there, then I blinked and it was  _ Joe and Nicky  _ ever since. Do you regret that?”

“Not at all,” Joe answered. He didn’t miss the way Booker flinched at his quick answer. “What’s this about, Book?”

Not a moment passed between the end of Joe’s question and Booker’s response.

“Marie’s pregnant.”

“Oh-” Joe stuttered trying to get his brain to work. “Oh!” He said again, louder that time. “What do you- Are you- Is she-” Too many questions and none of them felt like the right thing to say.

Booker looked back out the window, his face unreadable. 

“How do you feel about that?” Joe finally asked.

Booker let out a low sardonic laugh. “Well, it wasn’t planned if that’s what you’re asking.”

The waiter returned with their coffee. Joe thanked her and Booker gave her a weak smile before tipping his head back and draining his entire cup like he was taking a too-large shot. Joe tried to sip his own coffee, but it was too hot.

Booker changed the subject after that, asking about Joe’s art and how Nicky was. Joe couldn’t bring himself to be truthful and gripped the ring box in his pocket as he told Booker everything was the same as it always was.

The conversation lulled halfway through their meal, but they had never had a particularly chatty friendship, and certainly not when Booker was having to carry the conversation as Joe struggled through a stunned silence.

“Do you know what you’re gonna do?” Joe finally asked as they left the diner. 

“I don’t know,” was Booker’s response as he turned to walk back to his car, leaving Joe to stand on the sidewalk and worry about his friend.

\---

Joe was enveloped by the tart smell of balsamic vinegar and garlic as he walked through the front door. He could hear Nicky singing along to  _ Un'emozione da poco  _ in the kitchen. His deep voice had gone raspy; he must’ve been singing for a while.

Joe toed off his shoes, quietly closed the door behind himself and crept up to the arched door that led into the kitchen. He crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the wall.

Nicky was still wearing Joe’s sweats though he had, much to Joe’s dismay, added a shirt. He was standing at the sink and washing dishes with his back to Joe. There was a container of toasted baguette slices and another of a tomato mixture on the counter closest to him. Joe assumed they were for the party.

Nicky was still belting at the top of his lungs when Joe crept up behind him. 

“Hey, hon,” Joe whispered in Nicky’s ear as he wrapped his arms around his waist.

Nicky cursed in Italian and dropped the pan he was washing into the sink. Joe couldn’t help but laugh as Nicky spun around to face him and shoved him back lightly.

“ _ What the hell is wrong with you? _ ” Nicky demanded, still in Italian. He laughed nervously and put a hand over his face, clearly embarrassed.

“ _ I’m sorry, _ ” Joe said, though he absolutely wasn’t. “ _ I couldn’t help myself. _ ”

Nicky dried his hands on his shirt and turned off the music.

“I absolutely think you could have helped yourself,” Nicky said, switching back to English. He cocked his head to the side and waited for Joe’s reply, expectantly. 

“No, no, no,” Joe said, shaking his head dramatically and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “Your ass looks good in my pants and you were swaying to the music. I’m only human, my  _ Nicolò _ .” Joe practically crooned Nicky's name.

“You are only ridiculous, my  _ Yusuf _ ,” Nicky said, feigning annoyance, but it only came out fond, if a bit exasperated. He rolled his eyes with a smirk and pulled Joe in by the belt loops on his jeans. He gave Joe one small peck before unintentionally ruining the mood by asking, “how is Sebastien?”

Joe sighed and leaned his forehead down on Nicky’s shoulder. How  _ was  _ Sebastian? Joe didn’t really know how to answer that question.

“That bad?” Nicky asked. Joe felt one of Nicky’s hands run lightly up and down his spine.

“You could say that. I don’t know though, he’s hard to read sometimes.”

Nicky didn’t respond, just kept rubbing Joe’s back.

Joe wasn’t really sure what to make of Booker’s news. Booker didn’t seem to know what to make of it himself. He couldn’t imagine having to make decisions surrounding children when he hadn’t been planning on it. He couldn’t even think about it then, and this wasn’t even about his child. Marie seemed capable and mature enough from the few times Joe had met her, but Booker, in Joe’s opinion, was absolutely not equipped to handle this.

“Joe?” Nicky asked after a few minutes had passed.

Joe exhaled and shook his head once.

“Can I just distract myself for a bit?” Joe asked.

Nicky breathed out a small laugh and tightened his arms around Joe.

“Not  _ Nicky, distract me _ ?” Nicky asked, “but rather  _ let me distract myself _ ?”

Joe nodded against Nicky’s shoulder. He knew his boyfriend was already caught up to where Joe’s mind was heading.

Honestly, he would have loved to have Nicky distract him, but he was already pushing it by letting Nicky hold him like this with the ring in his front pocket. He really didn’t know what he would do if it somehow fell out as he was trying to take his pants off.

Proposing in the middle of their kitchen while he was trying not to fall into a thought spiral of worry sounded like the exact opposite of romantic and Joe had more than one actual idea up his sleeve.

Besides, what he had in mind for them right then in the kitchen was more than enough to clear his head, if only for a bit. All Nicky had to do was sit back and take it.

Joe dropped slowly to his knees, letting his hands travel down Nicky’s chest and bringing them to settle on his hips.

“I remember something about you trying to tempt me this morning.”

Nicky laughed and leaned back against the counter. His laugh stopped short with a gasp when Joe mouthed at the growing bulge at the front of his sweats.

Getting Nicky worked up was always easy for Joe. Joe was certainly the more outwardly sexual of the two. He was most likely to initiate any sort of PDA, and he absolutely was more likely to make a sex joke at any given moment. Behind closed doors though, Nicky was definitely the more insatiable of the two, not that Joe was complaining. If they were alone, all Joe had to do was cock an eyebrow at Nicky and he’d be on him immediately.

So it wasn’t much of a surprise when Joe pulled the waistband down to find Nicky fully hard and leaking a small wet spot onto his underwear.

Joe wasted no time pulling Nicky’s dick out and getting it into his mouth, no teasing, no preamble, just a small gag when Joe was too eager.

“ _ Slow down, habibi _ ,” Nicky said fondly, slipping into Arabic.

Joe just groaned around Nicky’s cock and continued to bob his head.

“ _ Or not, _ ” Nicky said.

Joe slipped one hand under the hem of Nicky’s shirt, while he moved the other to palm at his own hard cock through his jeans. Barely a moment passed before Joe felt Nicky’s fingers slip into his hair and his hips stutter forward. Joe looked up to find Nicky staring back down at him with his lips parted and eyes wide. Joe slowed his movement and stared up at his love.

“ _ Don’t stop,”  _ Nicky gasped out, his hand tightening in Joe’s hair. He practically whined when Joe pulled back and let his dick slip from his mouth.

“ _ One moment, _ ” Joe said, his voice coming out deeper than he intended.

He made quick work of undoing his own pants and pulling his own hard cock out, all the while looking up at Nicky who was slowly massaging his fingers against Joe’s scalp and staring down at him like he hung the moon.

Joe stroked himself a few times, and when he felt like he couldn’t handle the weight of adoration in Nicky’s gaze anymore he dove back in, stroking himself in time with the movement of his head.

It was far from the most graceful blowjob Joe had ever given, but Nicky came, thighs shaking and lips babbling Joe’s name all the same. He hoped -and truthfully, knew- that Nicky wouldn’t hold his selfishness against him in that moment.

Joe’s knees were numb by the time he sat back. He was careful to avoid the mess he’d made on the kitchen floor.

“Do you want to talk about it now?” Nicky asked, still breathless above Joe. Leave it to the ever focused love of his life to pick up the conversation right where they left off before the spontaneous kitchen sex.

Joe would like to think it was that his head was clearer post orgasm, but more likely he was just foggy enough in his sated state to blurt out, “Marie’s pregnant.”

“That’s uh-” Nicky’s voice trailed off, still trying to catch his breath where he leaned against the counter. 

“Yeah,” was all Joe could think to say as he laid down on his back in the middle of the kitchen. 

**An Interlude**

| 🤺Pit Viper⚔️ |

_ Saturday 4:15 PM  
_ _ Maybe I shouldn’t go. _

_ Quynh. _

_ No but seriously Joe  
_ _ I don’t want to make things  
_ _ awkward and I REALLY don’t  
_ _ feel like getting in another fight. _

_ Are you going to start anything? _

_ No. _

_ Then what’s to worry about? _

_ I just feel guilty. _

_ About what?   
_ _ I know it’s hard to see Andy hurting  
_ _ but you ended things for a reason right? _

_ I guess. _

_ You guess? _

_ Yeah Joe!  
_ _ I GUESS!  
_ _ Sorry…  
_ _ I’ll see you tonight. _

| Le-Fucking-Livre |

_ Saturday 4:57 PM  
_ _ Is it ok if I tell Nicky? _

_ Yeah.  
_ _ I figured you would anyway. _

_ Good  
_ _ cause I already did _

_ I could have made good  
_ _ money on that bet… _

_ Saturday 2:29 PM  
_ _ Does Marie know you told me?  
_ _ Should I not bring it up at the party?  
_ _ Sorry. Nicky says I’m pestering you. _

_ You’re not pestering.  
_ _ She knows I told you…  
_ _ I don’t know.  
_ _ Play it by ear? _

_ I can do that. _

**Nicky**

Parties at Nile’s house -well, the house she shared with her childhood friends Jay and Dizzy- were always fun. Chaotic, and often a bit messy, but fun nonetheless.

Nicky and Joe arrived later than they intended. Nicky carried the containers of bruschetta makings, and Joe struggled with multiple bottles of sparkling cider. Nicky hardly ever drank and Joe even less so. They learned long ago that if they wanted something other than water at these parties they had to bring it themselves.

When they stepped through the front door the party was in full swing and the windows were already fogged from the inside as temperature dropped outside. Nicky spotted Quynh talking to Booker and Marie, Jay was snuggled up on the couch her girlfriend whose name Nicky couldn’t remember and Dizzy was talking with Andy and a few people Nicky didn’t recognize.

There was a chorus of greetings from the people they knew, and Quynh broke off to rescue Joe from dropping bottles all over the ground. The three of them made their way to the kitchen.

“Nicky!” Nile squealed when she saw them enter the kitchen. 

She grabbed the containers from Nicky and set them on the counter before pulling Nicky into a crushing hug. “Oh my gosh thank you so much, my brother informed me this morning that he was bringing some of his friends with him and I suddenly realized I would need to feed four 21 year old boys that I hadn’t planned on.”

“It’s not a problem at all,” Nicky laughed.

Nile pulled out a tray and started laying out the pieces of toasted baguette. Quynh was talking a mile a minute to Joe in hushed tones. He rolled his eyes at her as they deposited the bottles of cider on the kitchen table.

“One second,” Nicky heard Joe say before he crossed the kitchen to give Nile a bear hug from behind.

“How’s the party so far?” He asked.

“Better now that you’re both here,” she said, laughing as she wiggled out of Joe’s grasp to keep helping Nicky put the bruschetta platter together.

Joe nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek before moving to Nicky and giving him a kiss on the cheek as well.

“I’m gonna go check on Booker,” Joe whispered into Nicky’s ear before leaving the kitchen, Quynh hot on his heels.

“So your brother is coming?” Nicky asked. He opened a cupboard and searched for a bowl to place the bruschetta topping in.

“At some point yeah,” Nile rolled her eyes. “He’ll probably stop by just long enough to eat a bunch of food and steal my alcohol before leaving, but I’m still excited to see him.”

“Sounds like standard younger brother antics,” Nicky replied. He didn’t even realise what he’d said until he saw Nile’s solemn face.

“No- No, that wasn’t what I meant,” Nicky started. “I just mean that younger siblings are like that. Joe’s are like that, your brother is as well, and yes so are mine, but I didn’t-”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume,” Nile said.

“Really, it’s fine,” Nicky said. “I hardly think about my family anymore. I mean it hurts still, but it’s not something that affects me as much. It’s been a long time. Let’s just get the food out, okay?”

Nile nodded and picked up the tray which was now piled high with about half of what Nicky had brought. He followed her out of the kitchen.

“Everyone say  _ thank you, Nicky, _ ” Nile shouted above the dull murmur of conversation in the living room. She set the platter down on the coffee table.

“Thank you, Nicky,” Jay parroted at the same time that Dizzy said, “Nicky cooked? Yes!”

He snatched a piece of bread and scooped some of the tomatoes on it before the table got too mobbed by hungry partygoers, and he walked over to stand next to Andy.

“How’s it going?” He asked, leaning against the wall next to her.

“Fine.”

Nicky took a bite of bruschetta and glanced at Andy. She was looking across the room, her face locked in a forced blank expression. He followed her line of sight to find Joe, Booker, Marie and of course, Quynh. Joe said something and the others laughed loudly. Nicky couldn’t help but smile to himself for a brief moment before focusing his mind back on Andy.

“You don’t have to torture yourself,” Nicky said, still watching the group. “We can move to the kitchen if you want.”

Andy sighed and took a sip from the cup in her hand. She lowered it from her lips but she didn’t speak. Nicky was content to let her drink her sorrows and simply be there next to her, both of them watching the people they loved.

Nicky had never felt entirely comfortable at parties. He wasn’t outgoing enough to make friends with people he’d never met, and he was just quiet enough that he tended to get spoken over in large group settings. Nile was usually good at bringing Nicky into conversations, as was Joe, but sometimes it was nice to just sit back and watch. Nicky didn’t need to be the center of attention, he never had.

The flow of people in and out of the kitchen to refill drinks moved naturally and the small groups of people shuffled between each other, creating new pockets of conversation. Nicky spent most of his time watching Joe, though. It wasn’t that he was intentionally staring at his boyfriend, but he was the one person Nicky felt like he could read from a mile away, and while most people were acting like slightly drunk versions of themselves, Joe looked nervous and apprehensive.

Nicky wasn’t sure exactly when it had started, he really only consciously noticed it once Joe had returned home from his breakfast with Booker, and for good reason. But the more Nicky thought about it the more he realized that Joe had been acting strange all week. Or if not strange, then perhaps just tense, like he was waiting for something to happen.

Joe kept shoving his hand into his pocket, only to remove it a moment later. He gripped the same thigh on more than one occasion as well. Perhaps his fencing injury was acting up. Nicky decided not to worry too much about it right then. He would ask Joe about his leg that night, maybe offer him a massage.

More concerning than Joe’s leg was the way he was acting around Booker and Quynh. Normally they would have been some of the people he was most at ease around, but on more than one occasion Nicky saw Joe give Booker or Quynh a weak, almost fake smile. At one point he reacted to something Quynh said with such a shocked expression that Nicky was sure he was going to say something to her, but Marie started talking very fast and Joe took an uncomfortable step back from the group.

When Andy finally finished her drink she pushed off the wall and walked toward the kitchen. She didn’t say anything to him but Nicky followed her anyway.

She beelined straight for the counter where a collection of liquor bottles sat and poured a healthy helping for vodka into her cup.

“Don’t you think you should slow down?” Nicky asked.

Andy glared at him while letting the liquid flow into her cup.

Nicky didn’t press further, instead he went to stand by the door that led back into the living room. Nile was laying on the couch, her head in Jay’s lap. She was looking at where Andy had been only minutes before, her expression strikingly similar.

Nicky didn’t have time to puzzle that out though because Quynh was suddenly yelling.

“You don’t think I know that?”

Nicky snapped his head over to where he expected Quynh to be, but instead he only found Booker and Marie. Quynh was far enough away from them to obviously not be directing her anger toward the couple. No, it was very clear that Quynh was only angry at Joe, who turned away from her and started to walk away.

Quynh said something Nicky couldn’t hear, and Joe stopped his retreat. He looked at the ceiling for a moment and shook his head.

Andy appeared at Nicky’s shoulder just as he was about to go see what was happening- and possibly pull Joe away. Maybe he should have ignored Andy then, but he didn’t because he could see her face drop when she realized the commotion was coming from Quynh. Quynh said something else that Nicky didn’t catch, but Joe’s response made it painfully obvious what they were fighting about.

“At least talk to her, she’s miserable and you won’t even let her know why!”

Once again Nicky was torn between trying to stop whatever the hell was happening with Joe and Quynh and being there for Andy who looked like she was dangerously close to throwing up. Her face had gone pale and she stood with her mouth agape, but Nicky blinked and her face was back to its practiced stoicism. She turned and walked back into the kitchen.

“Because I don’t know why!” Quynh said loudly, her voice quivered. “Not all of us have this perfect relationship Joe-”

“That’s not fair and you know it.” Joe stepped up into her space so that they were toe to toe, his voice still too loud for the small house, “God, it’s like you’re afraid to be happy.”

“Fuck you,” Quynh spat out. 

With that Nicky started making his way toward them, there was no way this was going to end well. He wasn’t quick enough though and Quynh kept talking.

“You have this ridiculous sense of romanticism that’s infuriating, and it is so unearned! I know better than anyone the shit you’ve gone through. How can you sit there telling me how to run my life when you made mistake after mistake to get where you are. How can you just know that things won’t get worse? Even now! I love Nicky, I do, but you can’t possibly know that you’ll never get sick of each other. You said you loved Keane too, constantly, so what’s to stop Nicky from doing the exact same things as he did? Just don’t pretend like you’re some expert on relationships because you lucked into an easy one. I don’t need you or Andy or anyone else telling me what I need to do, so just back off!”

Quynh finished and stood facing Joe for a moment, from behind it looked like she was ready to keep yelling at him, but Joe’s expression was one Nicky could only describe as pure shock.

Quynh made an exasperated noise and reeled around to come face to face with Nicky who had finally made it over to them. Her face fell for a moment, and Nicky could see tears forming in her eyes, but she clenched her jaw and pushed past him without saying anything. Joe didn’t wait for her to leave and was already heading for the hallway. 

Nicky watched Quynh leave for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened. His eyes locked with Booker for a moment, who looked equally shocked, and honestly more himself than Nicky had seen all night, but after a moment of trying to rationalize everything Quynh had just said, he gave up and followed Joe.

Nicky found Joe easily. The bathroom door was open and he was sitting on the ground, back to the wall, facing the sink which was on full blast. He grabbed a washcloth from the counter and wet it before turning off the tap. When he finally knelt down and placed the damp cloth on the back of Joe’s neck he finally earned a small, hollow smile.

“Why is it always parties that Nile throws that do this to me?” Joe asked, his joke coming out a little more self deprecating than Nicky liked. Joe’s breathing was already well past erratic and Nicky could tell he was barely keeping a panic attack at bay.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Nicky said softly. He settled down on the ground next to Joe, and pushed the door bathroom closed.

“This is the same bathroom too,” Joe choked out.

A small sob escaped from Joe’s throat. Nicky put an arm around his shoulders and he leaned in to the embrace. 

“What happened?” Nicky asked.

“I was pushing too hard, I shouldn’t have-” Joe took a stuttering breath. “She was right to yell at me.”

“No, she wasn’t. I don’t care what you said to her, she should not have thrown your past in your face like that.”

Joe broke at that and fully started crying. It always broke Nicky’s heart to see Joe in the midst of an attack, but this time felt particularly personal. He moved Joe’s head to settle against his chest and rested his chin on top of it.

“I hope you know- no, I know that you know this, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I love you, and I’m never going to be sick of you,” Nicky said. Joe nodded against Nicky’s chest.

Minutes ticked by slowly, they always did with panic attacks. Nicky refused to complain though, the time surely seemed infinitely longer to Joe.

At one point someone knocked on the door, Nicky called out that someone was in there and when there was no answer he was fairly sure it wasn’t someone who actually needed to use the bathroom.

“We should leave,” Nicky finally said.

“I’m-” Joe stuttered out, “I’m fine.”

“Let’s at least go outside. The fresh air might help.”

Joe nodded reluctantly, but he still followed Nicky back through the party and outside into the cold night. He didn’t complain when Nicky led him to their car either, just got in the passenger seat while Nicky got in the driver’s. He turned on the car and cranked up the heater as they both shivered.

“I’m sure Quynh feels like a jerk,” Nicky said.

“Honestly, I was the jerk,” Joe said from the passenger seat. When Nicky scoffed, he added, “alright, we both were. The two of us are too hot headed for our own good.”

Nicky nodded to himself before responding.

“Quynh’s hurt and you’re worried about her. I don’t think she knows what to do with that, and you are both very good at pushing each other’s buttons.”

“Only cause I pushed her first. It wasn’t just about her and Andy,” Joe took a deep breath, but it was steady, a sure sign that the worst of the attack was behind him. “I wasn’t sure whether Booker had told her at first, but her comments got more and more pointed the drunker she got. Booker was in no state to tell her to fuck off, and Marie doesn’t know us well enough, so I did.”

Joe glanced at Nicky before rubbing a hand over his eyes and adding, “things kind of devolved from there.”

“So it’s your fault because you defended your friend?” Nicky asked. “I can believe that you think you went too far, but nothing, and I do mean nothing, can excuse what she said to you at the end.”

Joe nodded to himself. He looked back at the house for a moment before grabbing Nicky’s hand.

“We can leave,” Joe said. “I don’t think I can go back in there.”

“Alright,” Nicky said, and he pulled away from the curb.

**An Interlude**

| Quynh Ngo |

_ Sunday 1:05 AM  
_ _ Are you ok? _

_ You’re not mad at me? _

_ I didn’t say I wasn’t. _

_ Did Joe tell you what I said? _

_ He did.  
_ _ But I heard the worst of it myself. _

_ Then why are you talking to me? _

_ What do you want me to do?  
_ _ Yell at you? I think you both  
_ _ did enough of that at Nile’s. _

_ That’s fair. _

_ Is she ok? _

_ She’s fine, it’s not a Freeman  
_ _ party until someone leaves crying. _

_ He was crying? _

_ Yes.  
_ _ Are you really surprised?  
_ _ You said some shitty things to  
_ _ him. Things you KNOW are  
_ _ hard for him to think about. _

_ I know. _

_ Seriously, what were you thinking  
_ _ Quynh? I know you were upset but  
_ _ bringing up Keane is inexcusable.  
_ _ And on a personal note I’m a little   
_ _ hurt you compared me to him. _

_ I know.  
_ _ I didn’t mean it... _

_ I know that, but I don’t think it  
_ _ matters. You said what you said,  
_ _ and what you said was awful. _

_ Nicky, I know. _

_ Sunday 2:24 AM  
_ _ I AM sorry  
_ _ I’m just stressed  
_ _ Could you tell him that? _

_ You should apologize to him  
_ _ yourself, but yes I’ll tell him. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t drink (often…) so once again with this series I am **projecting** by having the POV characters be the only sober ones at the party lol
> 
> Nile and Nicky are really holding it down as the only stable people at this party. It’s fine…. I have a lot planned for them in the actual sequel so they can have a rest for now 😎✌️
> 
> Final chapter goes up on New Year's eve! See you all then <3


	3. I'd Do It All Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe and Nicky spend New Year's with Joe's family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read, as always by Isa (YogurtForDinner)

**Interlude**

| 🤺Pit Viper⚔️ |

_Sunday 8:34 AM  
_ _Hey_

 _Sunday 9:26 AM  
_ _Are you free at all today?  
_ _I’d like to talk if you’re up for it…_

 _Sunday 9:51 AM  
_ _If not that’s fine too  
_ _I know I fucked up_

 _Sunday 10:49 AM  
_ _Normally I would, but we just  
_ _got off the road and I don’t think  
_ _my family would appreciate me  
_ _disappearing to talk to you for hours_

 _I thought you weren’t going up to  
_ _your parent’s place until tomorrow?_

 _Nicky thought it might be a  
_ _good idea to go up a day early_

_I do want to talk though, just not today._

_That’s fair…  
_ _let me know when you want to_

  
  


| Le-Fucking-Livre |

 _Sunday 12:50 PM  
_ _You ok?_

 _Meh. I’m fine.  
_ _This is not my first fight with Quynh  
_ _Nor was that my first panic attack….  
_ _Not even my first one in that house  
_ _I’m fine._

_What about you?_

_I’ll live._

_You know I’m here if you  
_ _need anything, right?  
_ _Both me and Nicky._

 _I know.  
_ _Thank you.  
_ _And same._

**December 30th 2024**

**Joe**

Even if they hadn’t made the drive to his parent’s house a day early, Joe didn’t think he would have been able to face Quynh on Sunday. Nicky was a light enough sleeper that Joe doubted he had missed the way Joe had tossed and turned all night. He definitely couldn’t have missed how that morning Joe got a bowl of cereal only to stare at it for an hour and ultimately toss the entire thing out.

Twenty minutes later Nicky was on the phone with Joe’s father asking if they minded having them up a day early. Thirty minutes after that they were in the car and on the road.

It was an obvious attempt at getting Joe’s mind off the previous night, but he didn’t mind and he wasn’t even sure Nicky was trying to hide it. 

Despite the way his Sunday had started, with a post midnight shouting match and panic attack, it ended with a night of laughing with his sisters and Nicky, and even later with Nicky riding Joe with a hand pressed over his mouth to keep from waking his parents.

Joe woke up on Monday in a much better mood, thanks in large part to getting a full night’s sleep, though the late night sex hadn’t hurt.

He was laying on his stomach, arms shoved under his pillow, face turned toward the warmth of Nicky who was sitting up against the headboard next to him. He could hear an intermittent light tapping, a moment later he felt a hand stroke lightly through his hair only to disappear and the light tapping to continue. Joe realized Nicky was typing as he woke slowly and blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

Nicky must have noticed the change in his breathing because not a moment later he said, “good morning.”

Joe groaned, snuggled closer to Nicky and wrapped an arm around his waist.

“What time is it?” He grumbled.

“Almost nine.”

Joe groaned again. “I slept through my alarm.” He made no attempts to get up though, choosing to nose at Nicky’s hip instead.

“I did try to wake you,” Nicky said as he leaned over to put his laptop on the ground, “ _you_ told me to turn off your alarm.”

“I have no memory of that conversation taking place.”

“No, you’re right, my mistake. If I know one thing about you it’s that you’re a well known early riser and have never once slept through an alarm,” Nicky teased.

Joe finally succeeded in his needlessly complicated task of nudging the hem of Nicky’s shirt up with his nose and kissed the exposed skin once before biting it lightly.

Nicky scooted down the bed so that he could lie on his side facing Joe and he pulled a blanket over them, creating a sort of dimly lit tent around their heads.

“What were you working on?” Joe asked. They settled close together with their noses nearly touching.

“Alyssa got back to me with more notes,” Nicky said. “I know I always say this but I’m done with conferences for at least a few months after this one. It’s too stressful to be submitting essays on top of my normal workload.”

“I’ll believe that you can resist the call of academia when I can resist the call of sleeping in.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Never.”

The side of Nicky’s mouth quirking up ever so slightly was the only warming Joe had before Nicky grabbed at his waist to tickle him.

“Ah-” Joe gasped, trying to both retreat from Nicky and retaliate at the same time. He squirmed and laughed as Nicky got in another grab at his stomach.

“You little-” Joe gave up trying to escape and let Nicky come to him. When they were close together once more, Joe grabbed Nicky’s hips and pushed his unsuspecting boyfriend onto his back, swinging a leg over his hips to straddle him.

They grappled with each other’s hands for a moment, but in the end Joe had Nicky pinned with his hands above his head. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, panting. Joe could feel Nicky hard against him, there was no doubt where this was heading, but Joe didn’t want to be the one to break first. Then Nicky swiped his tongue across his bottom lip and they both moved at the same time.

Lips met as they both struggled to get Nicky’s shirt off, breaking the kiss only when it was absolutely necessary. Next to go were Nicky’s boxers and Joe’s pants, ungracefully discarded at the foot of the bed.

“What do you want?” Joe asked. He was already breathing heavily with desire as he blanketed his body over Nicky’s once more, their hardening dicks sliding against each other. Nicky bucked his hips lightly into Joe’s and it stoked the fire in his chest that was already threatening to run away with him. He found himself babbling as he kissed and touched every inch of Nicky that he could reach. “Tell me what you want. I- anything- I’ll give you anything- I love you-”

Nicky seemed to be equally lost in the moment, kissing Joe back when he could and raking his hands through Joe’s hair when he dipped to kiss along his clavicle.

“You- that’s all I want- fuck-” Nicky babbled. He gasped when Joe finally wrapped his hand around Nicky’s cock. “I want you- _cazzo_ \- Yusuf- please- god- fuck me-”

Joe didn’t need to be told twice, and leaned over to snatch the lube from where they had left it on the nightstand the night before.

Nicky opened for him quicker than normal, Joe wasn’t sure if it was because they had just done this the previous night, or if they were so eager that Nicky relaxed quicker. Regardless, Joe found himself pressing into Nicky mere minutes later, both of them trying to hold back their own moans as Joe bottomed out.

“ _Madre di Dio_ ,” Nicky finally said as Joe pulled back out slowly.

“Blasphemy, Nicky?” Joe asked when he began to push back in again, quicker this time, but he paused once more when he was fully seated inside Nicky.

“Ah- if you don’t start moving I-” Nicky was cut off when Joe pulled out a little to slam back into him.

Joe placed his forearms on the bed on either side of Nicky’s head and began to move. He built to a fast hard pace, reveling in the sounds Nicky was making with each thrust. When he started to get louder Joe silenced him with a kiss which he couldn’t help but chuckle through.

“Be quiet, _habibi_ ,” Joe said. He could tell Nicky was getting close and he knew his own release would come soon as well.

Joe reached between them and started to stroke Nicky.

“Ah- shit-” Nicky said, far too loudly. They both laughed but Nicky’s turned into a moan when Joe changed his angle slightly and knew he was hitting the right spot.

“Joe I-” Nicky gasped.

“Me too,” Joe assured him, “let go, I’m right behind you.”

Not thirty seconds later Joe felt Nicky tense around him, and his back arch to meet him. Joe abandoned stroking Nicky to put his hand over Nicky’s mouth as he came definitely loudly enough for anyone in the house to hear.

Joe pumped into him five or so more times before he followed Nicky over the edge. He let his head fall onto Nicky’s shoulder and stifled his moan into the pale skin there.

Nicky groaned softly as Joe pulled out of him and rolled onto his back. He followed when Joe pulled lightly at his shoulder and ended up with his head pillowed on Joe’s chest

“Do you think my family will notice if we don’t leave the room today?” Joe asked as he ran his fingers through Nicky’s hair.

Nicky shook his head against Joe’s chest, and said, “you just don’t want to face them after the racket we just made.”

“We?”

“Yes, _we_! I seem to remember you having a fairly significant part in that,” Nicky said, tilting his head to look up at Joe incredulously.

Joe was always surprised by how easily his desire for Nicky overtook him. Almost from the moment they met, Joe had felt a magnetism toward him that he couldn’t describe or define. Within days Joe knew he would spend the rest of his life giving Nicky anything he ever asked for if only he could keep staring into those blue-green eyes. Miraculously, Nicky seemed to be under the same spell, and Joe thanked God daily for giving them each other. He couldn't wait to be married to him. He entertained proposing right then, but Nicky spoke again and the moment passed.

“What is it?” Nicky asked, still staring up at Joe.

“I love you, that’s all,” Joe said. He ran a hand down the side of Nicky’s face, and brushed a thumb over his cheek. 

Nicky leaned up and kissed Joe with none of the fever or heat of the kisses they had been exchanging only minutes ago, but with all the love and passion they’d had for each other. Nicky sat up a little to get a better angle and Joe pulled him down on top of him. Nicky drew Joe’s bottom lip into his mouth for a moment before swiping his tongue against it. Joe sighed and sent his hands in opposite directions, one to bury itself in Nicky’s hair, the other to grab his ass and pull his weight down on to him. Joe chased Nicky’s tongue with his own as Nicky’s hands gently ran up and down Joe’s chest.

He felt like a horny teenager. Neither of them were anywhere near being ready to go again and wouldn’t be for a while, but he couldn’t help but moan as Nicky softly bit his bottom lip again. He knew they wouldn’t be going any further than just making out, but he had no desire to stop.

Joe wasn’t sure how long it had been when Nicky finally planted his hands on Joe’s chest and pushed himself up to kneeling.

“I’m sorry,” Nicky panted above him, “but I have to keep working.”

Joe nodded before asking, “shower with me?”

“ _Sì, sì, sì_ ,” Nicky said, leaning down to kiss Joe once more, “you know I can never say no to you.”

Joe cocked an eyebrow at Nicky.

“Yes you can, you do it all the time.” 

“Not when I want what you’re suggesting as well,” Nicky said. He rolled off the bed and grabbed Joe’s hand to drag him toward the bathroom. 

\---

“I think I’ll be done by lunch if you don’t distract me again,” Nicky said, while rubbing a towel over his hair. “Apologize for me?”

“Of course, _ya amar_ ,” Joe said from where he sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on a pair of jeans, “you don’t have to feel guilty, it’s not a problem.”

Joe left Nicky sitting on the bed, laptop opened on his lap once more, already typing away.

He found his parents in the kitchen, sitting around the table drinking coffee. His father poured him a mug. If they had heard him and Niky they didn’t say anything, not that he ever expected them to, but not knowing if he had anything to be embarrassed about was almost worse somehow.

When they had all finished their coffee and his father had moved the empty cups to the sink Joe finally found the courage to pull the ring box out of his pocket and place it on the table.

“Oh, Yusuf,” his mother sighed. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“Have you talked about getting married?” She asked. Joe noticed his father’s head snap their direction at that.

“Way earlier than we should have,” Joe laughed. 

Joe heard footsteps and the split second before they entered the kitchen he snatched the box off the table and turned toward the door expecting to see Nicky. Thankfully, it was only Miriam who looked exceedingly confused at Joe jumping up from his seat.

“Did you see Nicky up and about?” Joe asked.

“No, but I could hear him,” she gave Joe a pointed look before grinning and adding, “I think he was on the phone.”

Joe rolled his eyes, but this was far from the first time Miriam had made it known that she knew what Joe and Nicky were up to behind closed doors. He’d stopped being embarrassed by her when it came to sex a long time ago.

“Can you keep a secret from Noor?” Joe asked, pocketing the ring box once more, “I don’t trust her not to blab to Nicky.” 

“Oh-” Miriam said, clapping her hands together excitedly before taking a seat at the table, “keeping secrets from Noor _and_ Nicky? Count me in.”

Joe laughed. “Perfect, I need your help.”

**Nicky**

Nicky always had the habit of hilariously underestimating how long work would take him to complete. So when Joe came in at nearly two with a plate of food, neither of them were really surprised.

“I’m so sorry,” Nicky said. He tilted his back and ran his hands over his face. “I swear I’m almost done.”

“It’s fine,” Joe said, handing the plate to Nicky. Lunch was a sandwich and carrot sticks; simple, but it would get the job done. “I was just coming to let you know I’m going out with Miriam for a bit. Well, that and to make sure you ate something before I left, I know how you get when you’re working.”

Truthfully they both often lost track of time when they were working, and just as often were there to snap each other out of it.

“Thank you,” Nicky said. He grabbed Joe’s hand and kissed the back of it. “What are you doing with Miriam?”

“Oh- uh- we’ve decided to make dinner tonight- going out for supplies,” Joe said quickly. “We won’t be long.”

Joe looked down at Nicky where he sat on the bed, and Nicky was pretty sure he was lying.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re really doing?” He asked, unable to hide his smirk.

“Getting food for dinner,” Joe said with a sly grin.

Nicky continued looking up at him and cocked his head to the side, waiting.

“ _And_ something that you will find out about in due time,” Joe said. “Let me surprise you.” 

Nicky could tell Joe wanted to add _for once_ to the end of the sentence. They’d been historically bad at hiding things from each other. Nicky was fairly certain neither of them had had a single birthday where their gifts to each other weren’t spoiled at some point in the days leading up to it. Nicky smiled and rolled his eyes, but he didn’t press further. Whatever Joe had up his sleeve, he was sure he would love it.

**An Interlude**

| Andy Scythian |

 _Monday 6:15 PM  
_ _I’m confused._

 _Monday 7:37 PM  
_ _About?_

 _Quynh texted me.  
_ _She wants to “talk”  
_ _What do I do?_

 _???  
_ _You go talk to her!_

 _I’ve only just started feeling like  
_ _myself again, I don’t know if it’s  
_ _healthy to reopen that wound._

_Then don’t go._

_You are being maddeningly unhelpful._

_Alright, you want the truth?_

_Yes_

_It is clear to anyone who is  
_ _paying attention that you  
_ _are still in love with Quynh.  
_ _It is also clear that she’s  
_ _still in love with you._

 _If you can see yourself  
_ _getting back together with  
_ _her, you should go._

 _If you can see any possibility  
_ _of moving forward as friends  
_ _who used to date, you should go._

 _If you think there is any  
_ _part of you that doesn’t want to  
_ _spend the rest of your life hating  
_ _her, you should go._

 _You can do whatever you think  
_ _is best, but if it were me I would  
_ _regret not knowing if anything could  
_ _have happened for the rest of my life._

 _Quynh isn’t Joe...  
_ _And I’m not you._

 _True, you would murder Joe if  
_ _you were in a relationship with him._

 _Nothing about this is going  
_ _to be easy or romantic._

 _If you love Quynh I think it’s  
_ _worth the pain, don’t you?_

_This going to fucking suck._

_No cross, no crown._

**December 31st 2024**

**Joe**

Joe had never known stress like what he was feeling as he and Miriam whisper-shouted at each other at two in the morning.

“This was such a bad idea,” Joe said. He let the string of lights fall from his hands with a sigh. They dangled down from halfway across the edge of the roof. It was raining lightly and Joe’s hair was plastered to his forehead.

“No it’s not. It will be beautiful and romantic,” Miriam said. Joe glanced down at her from where he was perched atop a ladder. She grinned up at him and continued, “besides, if we abandon it now, then you will have dragged me to four different stores to buy clearance christmas lights for no reason, and I will never forgive you if that was all for nothing.”

Joe rolled his eyes, grabbed the strand of lights once more and continued to drape them along the roof.

It was nearing four in the morning by the time they finally finished. They stood back and admired their work.

“Thanks for helping me. I couldn’t have done this without you,” Joe said.

“Oh stop,” Miriam said. She nudged his shoulder with her own, still looking up at their handiwork. ”Just go to bed and snuggle with your boyfriend one last time.”

“Why one last time? Do you think he’ll say no?” Joe asked, knowing the tightness that materialized in his chest was irrational.

Miriam barked out a loud, surprised laugh before clamping her hand over her mouth. “No, of course not. I just-” she started laughing again, “I- oh my gosh- I just meant one last time as your _boyfriend_.”

Joe stared back at her, not following her meaning, and certainly not appreciating her laughter at his expense.

“Because he’ll be your _fiancé_ when you go to bed tomorrow.”

Then it was Joe’s turn for an unexpected laugh to escape him and he covered his face in embarrassment.

“So you don’t think he’ll say no?” Joe asked from behind his hands, still feeling a bit silly. He knew the answer, he knew in his bones that Nicky would say yes. They’d talked about getting married once they were a bit more financially stable- they’d been talking about it for years.

He peeked out between his fingers to see his sister looking annoyed at him.

“ _Khalas, Yusuf._ You’ll give yourself a panic attack,” Miriam said. She bent down and unplugged the lights, plunging the backyard into darkness.

Joe was nowhere near that point, but he knew what she meant. He was worrying over nothing. Nicky would say yes.

“I just want it to be perfect,” Joe whispered as they walked back into the house.

Miriam nudged her shoulder against his again. “No matter what happens, it will be.”

\---

Joe crept into his childhood room -though it looked nothing like his room anymore, having been turned into a proper guestroom years ago- and clicked the door shut behind him as softly as he could. He peeled off his wet clothes and ran a towel over his damp hair. 

He shivered as he got into bed and Nicky rolled over to face him.

“What time is it?” Nicky mumbled sleepily.

“Late,” Joe answered, reaching out to pull Nicky to his chest. 

“You’re freezing,” Nicky gasped when Joe’s cold hand pressed to his bare back.

“I was outside with Miriam.”

“Sneaky al-Kaysanis,” Nicky whispered, and Joe could hear the smile in his voice.

“Tomorrow, I promise,” Joe said, cutting off the question he knew was coming. At this point he would be surprised if Nicky didn’t know what was going on; it wasn’t exactly original to propose on New Year’s Eve.

Nicky didn’t say anything else though, and Joe fell asleep to the feeling of Nicky’s steady breaths across his chest.

**Nicky**

Nicky always loved New Year’s. Even when he still celebrated Christmas he enjoyed the day spent away from home and the freedom to do what he wanted with his friends infinitely more than being stuck with his family for two days straight.

Celebrating New Year’s with Joe and his family was no different. In the time he and Joe had been together they had only spent one New Year’s elsewhere, and while it was fun to be out with their friends, they often felt out of place. Joe didn’t drink and Nicky had started to lose his taste for alcohol as well. Plus, one Nile Freeman party a month was enough. He expected they would be getting sporadic updates throughout the evening from everyone anyway.

Nicky would take playing a modified version of flip cup with Noor on the floor of the al-Kaysani living room over getting blackout drunk any day. A game he was confident Noor was only getting away with because her parents didn’t realize it was normally a drinking game.

The competition had been fierce to be sure, but it was down to him and Noor. They both kneeled on either side of the coffee table. A row of five plastic cups balanced on the edge of the table was lined up in front of each of them.

Joe was perched on the couch just behind Noor and Miriam was in an armchair at the end of the table. She looked between her sister and him before announcing dramatically, “ready, set, go!”

They weren’t even drinking anything out of the cups, just seeing who could flip their five cups faster while awkwardly scooting along the table on their knees- so naturally all four of them were taking the game way too seriously. Nicky was in the middle of trying to flip his third cup while Noor was already on her fourth when Joe decided to give Nicky an advantage by pulling Noor back from the table and tickling her.

Nicky wasn’t about to let a good opportunity go to waste, and he set to flipping the cups with sniper-like precision. Miriam laughed loudly.

“Joe, stop! That’s cheating!” Noor squealed out as she writhed in her brother’s arms.

Nicky simply laughed and finished flipping his fifth cup. Noor broke free of Joe’s arms and huffed.

“I was going to win,” she whined.

“Sorry, I saw an opportunity and I took it.” Joe grinned and sat back on the couch. He looked entirely too pleased with himself as he put his hands behind his head.

“Whatever,” Noor said. “I refuse to acknowledge the clearly biased ruling of this win.”

Joe chuckled again, but he stopped suddenly as Miriam plopped down on the ground next to Nicky.

“How are you doing down here?” She asked, nudging him with her shoulder.

“Good,” Nicky said looking back at Noor and Joe across from him. “Now that I’m the undisputed champion of flip cup.”

Noor squinted her eyes and shook her head back at Nicky, trying and failing to hide a smile. Joe appeared to be having a conversation with Miriam using only his eyes. He smiled at her, clearly bewildered and flicked his eyes toward the kitchen.

“Ok. I guess I’m not allowed to talk to you,” Miriam said with a dramatic sigh. She rolled her eyes, got up and walked into the kitchen.

Nicky watched Miriam go and looked back at Joe, who gave him no answers. He just mouthed _I’ll tell you later,_ at him. He gave Nicky a coy smile, and bit his lip before looking away and shoving his hands into his pockets.

Nicky moved to sit in the armchair Miriam had vacated when she poked her head back into the living room.

“Come help me with something,” she said, looking directly at Noor. It didn’t sound like a question.

“Why? Make Nicky do it, he’s just sitting there.”

Nicky almost got up to go see what Miriam needed when Joe spoke up.

“Don’t be a sore loser,” Joe said. He pushed Noor’s shoulder lightly, and she groaned. “Just go, we’ve only got a few more minutes anyway and I’m sure you don’t want to watch us make out at midnight.”

“Gross,” Noor huffed, but she got up and left the room without complaining again.

Joe watched Noor leave, glancing at Nicky multiple times.

“What’s with you?” Nicky asked with a small laugh. Joe seemed off, nervous maybe, like he had been all week.

“Me? Nothing,” Joe said, entirely too quickly.

He got up from the couch and walked over to Nicky where he still sat in the armchair. He half expected to be pulled up to his feet. Instead, Joe awkwardly straddled his legs and draped his arms over the back of the chair as he sank onto Nicky’s lap.

Nicky wound his arms around Joe’s lower back and pulled him properly onto his lap.

“This is comfortable,” Nicky said. He knew he was doing a horrible job at hiding his amusement at their position with Joe’s legs awkwardly positioned over the armrests.

Joe didn’t seem to mind much. He pushed his hands into Nicky’s hair and began kissing Nicky like his life depended on it. Nicky couldn’t help but gasp at the sudden, zero to sixty acceleration. He certainly didn’t mind though, and was starting to get a little turned on.

He had just moved his hands from Joe’s back to his hips when Joe stopped suddenly and practically fell out of Nicky’s lap while trying to stand up.

“Uncomfortable?” Nicky asked, trying not to laugh at Joe catching himself on the coffee table.

Joe laughed lightly as he tried not to completely fall on his ass, Nicky grabbed his arm and helped pull him to his feet.

“A little,” Joe answered. He held out his hand for Nicky. “Come outside- I mean- uh- Will you come outside with me? I want to talk to you about something.”

Between Joe’s restrained voice and his uncharacteristic clumsiness, Nicky was reminded of their first few dates. He was obviously worried about something.

Nicky followed Joe out onto the back porch. It was cold and dark out. It had been raining earlier and the lingering moisture gave the air a damp chill. Nicky shivered; he was only in a button up shirt and he probably should have grabbed a jacket.

Joe walked out further from the sliding glass door and into the middle of the deck. Nicky crossed his arms against the cold and followed his boyfriend.

“So-” Joe paused for a moment and he took a deep breath. “I’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you something.”

“Alright,” Nicky started. He wasn’t worried per se, but Joe certainly was acting strangely.

“Well first of all, I got an email from Copley,” Joe said, still facing out into the blackness of the backyard. “And my book is going to be published.”

“What?” Nicky blurted out. Joe turned to face him with his brilliant smile and Nicky knew he wasn’t joking. “Oh my god, Joe!”

Nicky grabbed Joe’s face and kissed him hard. “How long have you known?” He asked when he finally broke the kiss.

“A week.”

“What?” Nicky demanded as he pulled back and punched Joe lightly in the arm.

“Ow!” Joe laughed as he rubbed his arm.

“I’m so proud of you.” Nicky threw his arms around Joe’s neck and hugged him close, Joe laughed. A publishing deal? Nicky could hardly believe it. Suddenly all of Joe’s strange behavior over the last week started to make sense. Nicky pushed back from the hug again and said, “why didn’t you tell me? I was getting worried, you’ve been off all week.”

“Sorry- I- I wanted it to be a surprise,” Joe said. Nicky didn’t miss the way his hand gripped his thigh the same way he’d been all week. After a moment Joe added, “I was trying to be romantic.”

“By telling me on your parents deck?”

Joe laughed. “No.”

Nicky was about to continue poking fun at Joe’s idea of romance when Miriam popped her head outside and said, “ten minutes,” in a light sing-songy voice.

Joe’s eyebrows shot up and he nodded quickly, never taking his eyes off Nicky as he said, “okay, thank you.”

Joe let go of Nicky and walked over to a large potted plant next to the back door.

“I uh- I have something for you.” Joe pulled out two champagne flutes and what looked like a bottle of champagne.

“For me?” Nicky asked as Joe handed him the glasses.

“Well-” Joe said as he pushed his thumbs against the cork. “For both of us, but yes.”

The cork came free with a low pop. Nicky gave a low impressed whistle and Joe grinned proudly. He took the glasses one at a time and filled them, before clinking his against Nicky’s.

“Cheers,” Joe said, before taking a rather large gulp of his.

Nicky too took a sip, and almost spat it back out in surprise. “Wait, this is real?”

Nicky glanced back at the house, he could see Joe’s parents through the kitchen window, his mother would murder them if she caught them with alcohol.

“It’s fine, it’s a special occasion,” Joe said. His eyes sparkled in the light coming from inside the house.

For a few minutes they sipped their champagne in silence, Joe uncharacteristically not filling the silence with his words.

Joe took a deep breath as Nicky downed the last of his glass. Suddenly the dark night lit up, illuminated with strings of hundreds of christmas lights. They covered the railing of the deck and the outside of the house. It was beautiful.

Joe put his glass down and took a shallow breath. “Five minutes,” he said under his breath.

Nicky very suddenly felt his stomach seize up, like his body had realized something his mind hadn’t quite figured out. Joe took Nicky’s champagne flute out of his hands and placed it on the railing of the deck. Nicky felt like everything was moving in slow motion.

Joe turned back to him and took both of his hands.

“Nicky-” Joe started. 

Suddenly Nicky was very sure what was happening. “Oh-” Nicky breathed out.

Joe obviously caught his tone and stopped talking. He raised his eyebrows and froze where he stood, hands still holding Nicky’s. 

“Wait a minute,” Nicky said, trying to get his heartbeat to steady itself, or at least calm down enough that he didn’t hear it in his head anymore. Joe was still frozen, looking more concerned by the second.

“Sorry- No, I don’t mean wait as in stop. Just- just-” Nicky struggled through the English that felt like it was slowly tuning to molasses on his tongue. “Just give me a moment, I need to be- present. I want to remember this.”

Joe’s eyes lit up anew and he pressed a light kiss to Nicky’s knuckles. “Take your time.”

Nicky nodded at Joe and looked out over the back lawn of al-Kaysani residence. It seamlessly transitioned from short grass to tall pine trees which also had white christmas lights hung through their branches.

It was beautiful, it felt like he and Joe were suspended in the middle of some distant nebula and not standing on a damp porch. When he finally brought his eyes back to look at Joe, Nicky knew he was right. He could see the tiny pinpricks of light reflected in the deep dark expanse of Joe’s eyes. A galaxy.

“You ready?” Joe asked softly, drawing Nicky back to the present. He nodded, his words having left him. Joe smiled and continued.

“I made a lot of mistakes before I met you. I know that not all of them were my fault, but I made them all the same. I spent too long settling for what I thought love was, and then you walked into my life. All control and grace, so utterly confident and at ease, or at least it seemed to me at the time. You were self-assured in everything you did. Something I had not felt in myself in a long time.”

Nicky’s heart was skipping beats as Joe continued to stare at him with his eyes full of constellations. Their hands were slowly moving, intertwining and weaving in and out of each other, never settling in one position. Nicky could feel energy radiating from their hands, up into his chest and down into his feet.

“I love you, Nicky. I’ve loved you for so long I don’t remember how to be any other way. You are as much a part of me as the air in my lungs or the blood in my veins or the thoughts in my head. You are in everything I do, and in every thought I have. I want to spend the rest of my life with you in my lungs and my veins and my mind.”

Joe dropped one of Nicky’s hands and reached into his pocket. He pulled an unmistakable black box. 

“You let me believe your injury was acting up,” Nicky said, not sure why that was the moment his voice came back to him.

“Maybe I just like your hands on my body,” Joe said, quirking up a single eyebrow.

Nicky heard neighbors begin to cheer from beyond their private constellation. There were even a few pops of fireworks. It was midnight. They missed midnight because of him making Joe wait-

“Nicky, don’t- you’re perfect, this is perfect,” Joe said, somehow always able to read Nicky’s thoughts. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“ _Sì_ \- yes- me too- sorry- I love you-” Nicky babbled. A sob rocked his body briefly and he realized he was crying.

His heart was hammering in his chest, his stomach was still seized like he was going to puke, though he knew he wouldn’t and his mind was somehow both hazy and fixated precisely on Joe’s every move. The way he smiled back at Nicky and squeezed his hand once before sinking to one knee. He’d never felt so happy.

Joe looked up at Nicky with the biggest smile he had ever seen. 

“ _Nicolò, my love, my life, my-_ ” Joe said, the soft sounds of Nicky’s mother tongue coming from the love of his life oddly calmed him.

“ _Italian?_ ” Nicky asked.

“ _It’s romantic and my family has been watching us this entire time._ ” Joe indicated with a nod of his head to the window just over Nicky’s shoulder. When Nicky turned to look he saw Joe’s parents try to act as if they weren’t watching them by quickly turning to look at each other. Noor was far less subtle and Nicky watched her drop below the window and out of sight.

“ _I’d like this to be just between us,_ ” Joe said, drawing Nicky’s attention back to him.

“ _Perfect,_ ” Nicky said, looking down at his whole world, kneeling on the wet deck for him.

“ _Nicky- my heart, the best man I know, my best friend, the love of my life, will you marry me?_ ”

“ _Yusuf- I-”_ Nicky stammered as he tried to make his mouth say the words he’d dreamed about saying to Joe since the night they met. Joe smiled up at Nicky with knowing eyes. “ _Yes- of course it’s yes. Joe, I’m-_ ”

Joe was already up on his feet and kissing Nicky, ring box still in his hand before he could finish his rambling thoughts.

“I- I-” Nicky stuttered, switching back to English once more. He tried in vain to think of anything that could compare- or even come close to what Joe had just said. Joe just kissed him again, and Nicky settled for pulling him tight to his chest, and smiling into the kiss.

Nicky felt a few stray raindrops on his face and hands. Joe finally broke the kiss then and took the ring out of the box.

“I know you’re not much of a jewelry guy, I hope this isn’t too much,” He said, sliding a thick silver, though otherwise nondescript band onto Nicky’s finger. He looked down at it, taking in the sleek and minimal design. It fit perfectly, which Nicky wasn’t sure how Joe pulled off as Nicky couldn’t recall having ever worn a ring.

“It’s not too much, I love you.” Nicky said. His hand was trembling in Joe’s grasp. “I don’t know how you’re so calm.”

“I’ve been a wreck all day, this is easy.”

“I love you so much. I’m sorry I’m not- I don’t know what to say. I love you.” 

Joe pulled him into another kiss. Nicky rested his hands on either side of Joe’s neck as he felt arms wrap around the small of his back. Despite the winter chill Nicky felt a warmth in his gut that he was sure would never go away.

A soft _ahem_ from the back door finally drew Nicky back to the present. He turned and saw Miriam standing in the doorway, holding two phones up in front of her.

“So? Do I have a brother to console because of how terribly you turned him down?” She asked.

“Sorry, no.” Nicky said. “Actually, I think you’re about to gain a brother.”

Even Miriam couldn’t keep the sarcastic look on her face at that, and she flashed the classic al-Kaysani grin. “The best outcome I could hope for.”

Noor was next out the door. Nicky finally stepped back from Joe though he didn’t want to; he wanted to stay wrapped up in Joe’s arms forever, but they would have time for that later.

“Can’t be trusted? You said I couldn’t be trusted?” Noor scowled at Joe and punched him in the shoulder.

“Why does everyone keep hitting me today?” Joe asked with a pained laugh as he rubbed his arm.

Joe’s parents were next. His mother gave Nicky a tight hug, while his father went to talk with Joe. Nicky was much taller than Joe’s mother, but he didn’t hesitate to lean down a little when she reached up to grab the side of his face and kissed him on the forehead.

“I love you,” she said simply.

“I know,” Nicky replied. “Thank you for making me feel welcome in your family long before tonight.”

“How could I not? You love my son, and that’s all a mother wants for her children.”

Joe’s mother switched places with his father. He called Nicky son, which he’d done before, but it had more weight now and they both knew it.

“You've been part of this family for a long time,” he said after giving Nicky a long, tight hug. “Now it’ll just be more official.”

After congratulations and hugs had been shared by all, Joe’s father ushered the girls back inside.

His mother lingered just long enough to point a finger at her son and sternly say, “I don’t want alcohol in my house Yusuf! I’ll allow it on the porch this once, but it stays out here when you come inside.”

“Yes mama,” Joe said with a soft laugh.

She gave Nicky’s hand a squeeze as she walked in, and then they were alone on the deck again.

“Well-” Joe said, turning back to Nicky with a gleam in his eye. “I suppose we have no choice but to drink the whole thing.” He picked up the abandoned champagne flutes and offered one to Nicky.

“Joe-”

“What, I’ve drank with you loads of times.”

“Sure, maybe seven or eight times in five years.” Nicky rolled his eyes but took the offered glass all the same. “That is not _loads_.”

Joe knocked back the rest of his glass and poured himself another. All the while looking at Nicky with the biggest shit eating grin. It looked like it was a challenge or a promise.

“I love you,” Nicky said, for what felt like the first and millionth time.

**January 1st 2025**

**Joe**

They left the empty bottle and glasses on the porch, and moved inside to the couch at around one, where they made out messily and unashamed at their desire for each other. By the time they actually decided to go up to bed it was nearing two.

They stumbled through the door to the bedroom, Nicky having to steady Joe as he almost tripped over his own duffle bag. They were peeling clothes off themselves and off each other as Joe walked backwards toward the bed, not wanting to stop touching and looking at Nicky.

Nicky was saying _I love you_ over and over again, switching between English, Italian and Arabic.

The backs of Joe’s knees hit the bed and he sat down, pulling Nicky to stand between his legs. He stared up at Nicky in wonder, he was sure he would never tire of looking at the man who stood above him.

“I want you,” Joe said simply.

“You have me, always.” Nicky said. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly and he nudged Joe to move back from the edge of the bed.

Nicky crawled to hover over him, staring down into his eyes.

“What do you-” Nicky started to ask, but Joe was too impatient and pulled Nicky down to kiss him. Nicky made a muffled _mumph_ noise and chuckled into the kiss. Joe relished in how new everything felt, while still feeling utterly comfortable and the same. It was a strange feeling, but not at all unwelcome.

“What do you want?” Nicky finally asked again.

“You,” Joe said with a smile. He reached down and found Nicky, unsurprisingly, already hard, “I spent some extra time in the shower this evening.”

“Oh you did, did you?” Nicky said, breath hitching as Joe stroked him. He stuck two fingers into his mouth for a moment and trailed them down Joe’s abdomen, “I thought you disappeared for a long time.”

Nicky wasted no time and pressed one finger slowly into him, it burned ever so slightly, the way only eased by Nicky’s spit, but Joe still let out a low moan. He leaned down and kissed him once before sliding his finger back out and moving away to grab lube from the nightstand.

Joe propped himself up on one elbow to watch Nicky slick up his fingers. He stroked himself idly as Nicky settled between his legs and pressed at Joe’s entrance once more. 

Nicky didn’t tease him though, and before long he was pumping three fingers into Joe.

Joe was about to demand Nicky hurry up and fuck him when he finally removed his fingers and poured more lube into his hand. He stroked himself as he looked down at Joe.

It was a dark night, but the glow of the street lamp outside illuminated Nicky enough for Joe to be able to stare up at Nicky as he paused at the edge of the bed.

“You’re gorgeous, have I told you that before?” Joe asked.

“Frequently,” Nicky said, his voice was impossibly low. “Come here.”

He grabbed Joe’s legs and pulled him to the edge of the bed with a grunt. He stood and lined himself up with Joe’s hole. He started pushing in slowly and Joe lost the plot for a moment. He arched into the intrusion, welcoming the stretch of Nicky filling him up. When Nicky finally bottomed out and held still for a moment Joe realized Nicky had maneuvered his legs so that one was propped up on Nicky’s shoulder and the other was held in the crook of his elbow.

“ _Are you good?”_ Nicky asked in Italian.

“ _Yes, very good,_ ” Joe answered back in kind. “ _Now move._ ”

Nicky moved right away, setting a slow but unfaltering pace. When Joe was in Nicky’s position he tended to drive toward the finish line with relentless concentration. He hardly ever had the patience to draw things out for very long. Nicky on the other hand was a master of restraint.

Joe’s breathing synced up with the steady movements of Nicky thrusting into him. Inhale as Nicky pulled out, exhale as he drove the air out of him with each maddeningly controlled thrust.

Nicky’s hands were busy taking turns gripping at Joe’s thighs and hips and legs. Joe started to stroke himself, letting the other hand wander over Nicky’s stomach and chest. Eventually Joe noticed a slight uptick in the pace and he knew that Nicky was getting close.

He picked up his own pace to try and keep in time with Nicky’s rapidly increasing one. Quite quickly his and Nicky’s breathing went erratic and Joe titled his head back and closed his eyes, unable to stop the onslaught of emotion he felt every time he saw Nicky -his _fiancé_ \- looking back down at him. Slowly, he began to feel heat grow inside him.

“Joe-” Nicky said between panting breaths.

Joe simply groaned in response.

“Look at me?” Nicky asked softly.

Joe of course opened his eyes back up to gaze up at Nicky. He guided Joe’s legs to wrap around his lower back and leaned down closer to Joe. His pale eyes were glistening, and Joe was sure his were too as they stared at each other, tears welling up unbidden. 

“I’m close,” Nicky said, speeding up and losing any semblance of rhythm.

Joe nodded his head, he was close too, unable to speak or break eye contact with Nicky.

The heat bloomed more and more within Joe, he kept feeling like he was on the edge of release, but he only climbed higher and grew hotter. Nicky was grunting low and filthy with each thrust. He wound a hand behind Joe’s neck and pulled him up off the bed just enough to meet his lips.

“I love you,” Nicky whispered into the kiss. “You are everything- ah- everything to me.”

Joe felt himself tip over the edge and finally came between them. The only thing he could think to say was Nicky’s name so he did, over and over as his orgasm washed over him.

With that, Nicky cried out and stuttered in and out of him before burying himself completely inside Joe and dropping his head onto his chest to ride out the last pulses of pleasure.

Nicky trembled for a moment on top of Joe before slowly pulling out and grabbing his shirt off the ground to start wiping Joe’s cum off of their stomachs and chests.

Once they were clean enough Joe draped himself over Nicky, who was lying on his back. He had one arm behind his head and the other around Joe’s shoulders, hugging him close.

“Do you remember the first time we did this in this room?” Nicky asked.

Joe laughed remembering the first few weeks of their relationship. “Which time? Together, or when you got me in trouble during phone sex for being too loud and Miriam yelled at me.”

“Oh my- I had completely forgotten about that,” Nicky chuckled.

“Well, I haven’t and neither has she,” Joe said. He was leisurely drawing patterns on Nicky’s chest with his finger tips. “She mentioned it last night.”

Nicky huffed out a laugh. “Mentioned it?”

“We were stringing up lights while you were sleeping. She said something about how you and I have come a long way, and that she's glad she doesn’t live at home anymore so that when we’re here she isn’t forced to hear us.”

“You both know that she’s been here all the nights we have, including tonight, right?” Nicky asked.

“She mentioned something about that as well, though she was a bit more subtle about it.”

Nicky laughed, and Joe turned his face into Nicky’s chest delighting in how right it felt to be pressed so completely against him. Joe felt himself start to drift before Nicky spoke again.

“We’re engaged,” Nicky whispered.

“We are,” Joe said sleepily. “I love you so much Nicolò.”

“I have loved you since I first saw you,” Nicky said quietly, his lips pressed into the top of Joe’s head.

Joe’s stomach was full of butterflies and his heart was skipping beats. There were times, years before, when Joe had thought he wasn’t worthy of this kind of love. To have been proven so utterly wrong and to not only receive this all consuming love, but to be able to give it too, words couldn’t describe that feeling, though Joe never stopped trying.

Thinking of the man who was slowly stroking his back, and imaging their future together, Joe let sleep come to him.

**Denouement**

| Nile Freeman |

_Wednesday 2:11 PM  
_ _[Photo]_

_Aww You guys are cute_

_Did you even look at the picture?_

_Yes…?_

_Look harder._

_If I wanted to stare at  
_ _you and Joe kissing I would  
_ _come over to your place more._

 _Wednesday 2:19 PM  
_ _OH MY GOD!  
_ _NICKY!  
_ _OH MY GODDDDD_

_I knew you’d get there eventually._

_Ah!!!  
_ _Nicky!  
_ _I can’t believe it  
_ _I mean I can believe it  
_ _But AHHH!  
_ _Congratulations!_

_Thanks, Nile._

_Wait. Who proposed?_

_lol  
_ _Joe_

_I need absolutely every single detail!_

| Le-Fucking-Livre |

_Wednesday 2:11 PM  
_ _[Photo]_

_Congrats man.  
That’s awesome. _

_Thanks Book_

| 🤺Pit Viper⚔️ |

_Wednesday 2:12 PM  
_ _I know we’re like in a fight or  
_ _whatever but I have a surprise_

_That’s putting it lightly._

_Maybe I should call you instead…  
_ _or wait for when we can get together  
_ _in person, but I’m really sorry Joe, I  
_ _can’t believe some of the things I  
_ _said to you, Nicky and Booker._

_[Photo]_

_YOU CAN’T JUST SEND ME THAT  
_ _WHEN I’M TRYING TO APOLOGIZE!  
_ _Congrats Joe!  
_ _I love you!_

 _I love you too and I’m not  
_ _saying you’re completely forgiven,  
_ _but you’re still one of the first people  
_ _I wanted to text so… here we are._

 _That is 100% understandable.  
_ _I really am sorry.  
_ _Can I take you out to lunch when  
_ _you’re back? Sort of a “I’m sorry  
_ _but also congratulations” meal?_

_It’s a date_

_Wednesday 2:30pm  
_ _Ok but Holy fuck!  
_ _Joe, you’re engaged!?!?!_

_I know!!!_

_Did you propose at midnight?_

_Yeah… well I tried lol  
_ _It was probably more like 12:05_

_Always so long winded Yusuf_

_Hey!  
_ _I actually tried to time it right  
_ _I practiced even!  
_ _Nicky kept interrupting me_

 _Nicky would like me to add that  
_ _while he did interrupt me there  
_ _was “no way” I was going to  
_ _get all that out in five_ _minutes.  
_ _So I guess long winded it is lol_

 _You are so cheesy it’s disgusting.  
_ _I love you both!_

 _Wednesday 2:45 PM  
_ _So… I have a surprise too…  
_ _[Photo]_

_What the fuck Quynh??_

_I really don’t need to see  
_ _you and Andy half naked._

 _I mean congrats on getting  
_ _over yourself, I guess.  
_ _But come on!_

 _Don’t be such a prude.  
_ _You can’t see anything._

 _I can tell you’re both naked  
_ _it’s enough_

  
  


| Andy Scythian |

  
  


_Wednesday 2:16 PM  
_ _[Photo]_

 _Aw Nicky  
_ _You both look so happy!  
_ _Congratulations!_

_Thanks!_

_So am I right in guessing  
_ _that Joe proposed?_

_Yes_

_Nice.  
_ _Booker owes me $500_

_Haha happy to help._

_Wednesday 2:47 PM  
_ _So you were just going to  
_ _text me while in bed with  
_ _Quynh and NOT tell me?_

_I didn’t want to step on your moment_

_You could never!  
_ _I’m happy for you.  
_ _Though I could do without the  
_ _post coital selfie of you two  
_ _on my boyfriend’s phone._

_Fiancé’s phone._

_...  
_ _Woah._

\---

_[Instagram Photo Post]_

Liked by **renzodigenova** and **124 others**

 **nicolodigenova** I still can’t believe this is real.

I love this man more than words could possibly describe.

View all 32 comments

 **nilesfromhome** Remember when we were like 7 and I proposed to you??  
 _15 likes_

**nicolodigenova** vaguely… wait was it when your family was   
moving back to the states for the first time?  
 **nilesfromhome** YES! And you were crying because you didn’t  
want me to go, so I said we should get married so you could live  
with me. You calmed down for a bit until you realized that  
would mean you would have to leave home.  
 **nicolodigenova** oh no- what will Joe say when he finds out I’ve  
been engaged to someone else for two decades??  
 **nilesfromhome** Though I COULD invoke the right of dibs,  
I GUESS I’ll rescind my proposal. I’m waiting in the wings though  
@joethefencer so you better watch out!  
 **joethefencer** I’m not worried  
 **nilesfromhome** I don’t know if I should be insulted or not  
 **joethefencer** Insulted. 100%

 **akanoor** Nicky!!!! I’m so excited for you guys and I already feel like you’re  
my brother, now it will just have the “in-law” officially tacked on the end.  
 _3 likes_

 **sebastien.le.livre** congrats!  
 _2 likes_

\---

_[Instagram Photo Post]_

Liked by **quynhngoofficial** and **306 others**

 **joethefencer** Nicky, I’ve told you all of this before and I will keep telling you for the rest of our lives:  
You are the best man I know.  
The kindest, fiercest and most loyal partner I could ever hope for.  
You’re the moon when I’m lost in darkness and warmth when I shiver in cold.  
I love you beyond measure and reason.  
You are everything to me. Everything and more.  
No longer my just boyfriend- MY FIANCE.

#hesaidyes #engayged

Photo credit goes to my sister and co-conspirator @MerryMiriam

View all 97 comments

 **quynhngoofficial** JOE!!!!!!!!!!  
 _85 likes_

 **joethefencer** QUYNH!!!!!!  
 **fancyfencing** This is Quynh’s college friend right? I think they fenced together!  
 **carajohnston** I’m pretty sure you’re right!  
 **ong.nhat** Don’t you guys think this is an invasion of privacy??  
 **fancyfencing** You’re here too!

 **merrymiriam** haha thank you for the photo credit, truly it’s the MOST important thing about this post. I hope you both know how much I love you, and I’m so lucky to have you BOTH as my brothers now 💕💕💕  
 _15 likes_

 **sebastien.le.livre** congrats!   
_3 likes_

\---

_[Instagram Video Post]_

Liked by **QuynhNgoOfficial** and **249 others**

 **joethefencer** (This is small clip of the much longer video- which you can bug me to see if you really want 😅)  
Video credit goes to my sister and co-conspirator @MerryMiriam

View all 51 comments

 **akanoor** I still can’t get over how cute this turned out!  
 _4 likes_

 **andromache97** Beautiful job, Joe. Congratulations!  
 _3 likes_

 **nilesfromhome** Nicky shut up and let the man talk!! Lol  
 _25 likes_

 **nicolodigenova** I was caught off guard! Are you my friend or not?  
 **nilesfromhome** Joe brought me cookies when he taught art for my class.  
 **nicolodigenova** I literally made you bruschetta a week ago!  
 **nilesfromhome** Bruschetta isn’t cookies Nicky!

 **renzodigenova** Congratulazioni. Your Italian is very good Joe. I am happy for you both.  
 _5 likes_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That absolutely BEAUTIFUL art is by [Ashley](https://ashleyrguillory.tumblr.com/post/639050405956943872/a-commission-for-scimitar-and-longswords-fic)
> 
> Sebastien "I only text in two word sentences" Le Livre over here.
> 
> Well that's it! My little holiday special... or Interlude if you will 😉 between Share Your Address and the Sequel. (which I plan to get to some time in the spring) Because of that there are a few things that aren't necessarily RESOLVED in this, but rest assured it's just all set up for the sequel. 
> 
> Special thanks to Kiaya and Annie (heelipabo) for being great sounding boards <3  
> If you're into the whole playlist thing, [here is the one I made for this fic](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6KZ7EJ1MG0dwZYur7uojtM?si=J_-OicSKS8mVqNc5CIyP7g)  
> Find me on [tumblr.](https://scimitar-and-longsword.tumblr.com/)


End file.
